


The Ones Left Behind

by msummer300



Series: Earth 127 [6]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, NCT (Band), NCT Dream, The Sandman (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-19
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:33:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 21
Words: 23,837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25372441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/msummer300/pseuds/msummer300
Summary: Following his parents' untimely deaths, Renjun isn't sure how to go on. He finds help from the most unlikely person in the most unlikely of places.ORA very loose retelling of Neil Gaiman's The High Cost of Living wherein I co-opt a character I love and use her to tell a story I very much needed to write at the time I wrote it.
Series: Earth 127 [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1575403
Comments: 1
Kudos: 19





	1. A Beautiful, Godforsaken City

**Author's Note:**

> Content warning: Depression, suicidal thoughts, and (if you missed it in the tags) major character death near the end
> 
> If you came here from [A Round of Robins](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20251123) and you're not in a good headspace for any of those things right now, don't worry, it'll all still make sense if you skip this one.
> 
> Also, Spoiler warning: Major spoilers for [A Round of Robins](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20251123) through Chapter 49. If you _didn't_ come here from A Round of Robins, everything should still make sense, but some of the context might feel like it's a bit out of left field.

Getting rooftop access in Gotham was way easier than it should have been, especially for a building Renjun was pretty sure he shouldn't have access to at all. And yet, after trying a few door knobs that really should have been locked, he found himself standing on top of a skyscraper, overlooking the city that had single-handedly ruined his life.

Gotham, when viewed from above, had a sort of 1950s film noir charm to it. It was harder to see on the streets, obscured as it was by the brightly colored technological hellscape that was slowly consuming the world's urban areas. Maybe that was why Batman spent so much time stalking across the rooftops. Maybe if Gotham's crazies weren't so driven by aesthetics, his parents would still be alive.

Renjun had come up here to jump. He hadn't expected those doors to be unlocked.

He read somewhere that the majority of suicides were spur of the moment decisions. Most people don't plan to kill themselves. Instead, they fight, and they keep fighting until the fight becomes too much to bear and the only option they can think of is to run away. Problem is, there's only one real way to run away from your life.

Idly, he wondered if this counted as one of those spur of the moment decisions. In truth, it was probably more of a series of spur of the moment decisions. His new living situation was, to put it nicely, less than ideal. Over the years, billionaire playboy Brucie Wayne had adopted a lot of hapless teenagers, and yet the only ones in the "family" who ever seemed to be at Wayne Manor were Jisung, who seemed perfectly content treating Renjun like a roommate, and Cass, who was the living embodiment of a jumpscare. They mostly left him alone.

And Renjun liked being alone. In his estimation, most people were vapid and self-centered, acting for themselves or for their conscience--which was really just acting for yourself by way of being nice to others. For his part, the only people Renjun felt he genuinely cared about were dead. Well, except Jeno and Jaemin, but they had abandoned him months ago and had grown distant months before that--if they'd ever really been close in the first place. He was convinced that the vast majority of relationships were like this, defined by circumstance rather than any genuine connection. They crumbled as easily as circumstances changed. Why bother investing into something so fragile? As far as Renjun was concerned, it wasn't worth the effort.

Of course, there were drawbacks to being alone. Without other people around to distract you, thoughts are amplified. They build on and around each other as darkness takes root and builds within them. Renjun wasn't entirely sure when the darkness had taken root in him. Maybe it had been when his friends had betrayed him. More likely, he thought, it was always there, and it had simply seized on the opportunity to make itself known. When his parents were alive, he'd been able to channel the darkness into his art.

His parents had been dead for a little over a month now. At least that month had been busy. People never talk about all the stuff you have to do after someone dies. All of it had fallen to Renjun, and he had thrown himself into it because at least when you’re explaining Chinese funerary customs to a mortician or arguing with a lawyer about how much of your parents’ stuff you get to keep even though neither of them had a will, you don’t have to think about what you’re going to do once you run out of loose ends to tie up. Now that the only thing to be done was somehow continue living in their absence, he realized that that was the hardest thing he’d ever attempted.

And that brought him to this morning, alone in Wayne Manor, when no amount of paint had been enough to keep the darkness at bay and every cell in his body was screaming at him that he needed to escape. Escape what, he wasn’t sure, but with the darkness threatening to consume him, he grabbed his sketchbook and a pencil and left to see if he could find something he wanted to draw in town.

Alfred intercepted him on his way out and insisted on driving him into town. Renjun tried to insist on walking, not wanting to endure any amount of time stuck in a car with the old man, but when Alfred reminded him that walking to town would take several hours, and that the nearest part of town was Crime Alley, Renjun relented. And the ride hadn't been the worst thing ever, he supposed. Alfred wasn't much of a talker, which let Renjun zone out and focus on the small amount of comfort that came with the simple act of moving forward.

Alfred stopped near the Wayne Enterprises building, handed Renjun his phone, charger, and wallet, all of which Renjun had forgotten to grab in his desperation to get out of the Manor, and told him to call when he was ready to come home.

As he drove away, Renjun thought that Alfred was way too good at his job and that he never wanted to go back to that big empty house again. Then, he picked a direction and started walking.

He didn't realize he'd been heading toward his family's old apartment building until he was standing in front of it. The apartment they'd lived in wasn't really theirs anymore. Everything in it had been sold off, brought to the manor, or put in storage. He couldn't even get in the building anymore; he'd given the landlord his keys the day he moved to Wayne Manor.

He wasn't sure why he'd come here--probably autopilot drilled into him from three years living in this building, he thought--but he regretted it instantly when a familiar voice called out to him. He turned toward it and locked eyes with Jaemin, who was staring disbelievingly at him from the driver's seat of his car.

In that instant, any comfort he had gotten from the walk around town evaporated as memories of Jaemin's betrayal crashed over him, like salt packed roughly into a festering wound. Then, Jaemin started scrambling to get out of his car and the need to escape came back with a vengeance and Renjun turned and ran hard in the other direction.

He could hear Jaemin calling after him, but he didn't care. Jaemin had abandoned him, pretended to be his friend and then left with hardly a goodbye when he got the opportunity. At least Jeno had tried to contact him afterward. What right did Jaemin have to try and talk to him now? Renjun knew he didn't really care. He was probably just feeling guilty because Renjun's entire family had been murdered and it was all the news could talk about for a week and there was no way Jaemin could possibly have missed that and that meant he knew Renjun was alone and Jaemin didn't like it when people were alone but there was no way he could possibly understand any of what Renjun was going through right now, and he didn’t have any right to try.

He didn't stop running until he felt like his heart would literally explode. When he finally did stop, he was surrounded by towering, lifeless skyscrapers. Craning his neck, he was just barely able to see the top of one of the shorter ones. In that moment, exhausted in a way he didn’t think was just from the running, he had a vision, clear in his mind’s eye, of stepping off the edge of that roof and hurtling to the ground.

The vision terrified him. Yet, just as clearly as he’d seen it, he knew it was exactly what he’d been looking for.

And that brought him here. Now. To a roof that was far too easy to get to and a jump that would end the pain and the exhaustion and the loneliness.

He wondered if he should leave a note, but he didn’t think anyone would care enough to read it. So, he simply set his sketchbook down, stepped up to the edge, and took one last look over this beautiful godforsaken city, before stepping off into thin air.

Then, the unthinkable happened.

Someone caught him.


	2. The Girl on the Roof

Renjun screamed as he jolted to a stop. His arm felt like it was being ripped out of its socket and the hands that had wrapped around his arm dug painfully into his skin. Below him was nothing but a long expanse of empty air dead-ending in a street that he could barely see from this height.

He just stepped off a building. He just _stepped off a building!_ What was he _thinking?!_

“Wow, that was a close one,” a voice, honey smooth with a melodic sort of lilt, said from above him.

He looked up. The hands were attached to a girl, about his age, with long, wild black hair and flawless black makeup applied on a face that was just a few shades darker than paper white. She was smiling.

“You should really watch where you’re going,” she continued, “You might fall off a roof or something.”

Irritation pricked at him. Was she trying to make a joke? “How do you know I didn’t fall off a roof on purpose?” he snapped.

She pursed her lips, regarding him. “Do you want me to let go?” she asked after a moment.

“No!” he said quickly, and in the same instant he said it, he realized he meant it, which struck him as a bit odd given the resolve he’d had moments before. But, well, it turned out there was a big difference between standing on a roof and hanging off the edge of one and the first was infinitely preferable to the second. Adrenaline had caused a self-preservation instinct to kick in a few moments after he could do anything about it, and fate had intervened in the form of a girl on a roof he could have sworn was empty a moment earlier.

“Well,” she said, smile returning, “Then I guess I’d better pull you up.”

Neither of them said anything while she hauled him up to a point where he could get a good enough grip on the roof to pull himself the rest of the way out of danger. Once he had a solid purchase, he crawled a few feet away from the edge before shakily standing up.

“There we go,” the girl said cheerfully, “Solid ground again.”

“Thanks,” he replied, turning toward her. Anything else he might have said disappeared from his mind when he got a good look at her, though. She was beautiful--taller than him but also skinnier if that was possible. She was wearing a black camisole tucked into a pair of black skinny jeans tucked into a pair of black high top sneakers, all so dark it was hard to tell where one garment stopped and the next began. The only thing she had on that wasn’t black was an enormous silver ankh hanging from a chain around her neck. The look was striking, all the more so for its simplicity.

“Do you want to go get lunch?” she asked.

He blinked at her for a second, processing the question. “What?”

"I'm hungry, but I think eating's better with friends, don't you?" She positively beamed at him. It made her whole body light up in a way Renjun didn't think was even possible.

"We're not exactly friends," Renjun said. Part of him regretted it the instant the words came out of his mouth. Another, darker part mused that she didn't know or care about him, she was probably just trying to make sure he didn't try jumping again because that's just what you do in cases like this.

"We could be," the girl responded, "Besides, I bet lunch with a stranger's better than falling off a building."

Renjun couldn't exactly argue with that, and his stomach apparently found the idea of lunch extremely compelling, seeing as it chose that moment to growl loudly. He hadn't eaten since… had he eaten at all that day?

He sighed. It'd be better to just go along with it, even if she was just trying to soothe her own conscience. "You know what? Sure. Not like I had anything better to do."

He regretted that instantly too, because the girl’s smile somehow managed to get even brighter, but before he had a chance to backpedal and assure her that he really just wanted to be alone right now, she picked his sketchbook up from where he'd left it and thrust it into his arms. Then, she grabbed his wrist and started pulling him toward the door and down the stairs that would eventually lead them out to the street.

They'd made it down a couple flights of stairs before Renjun managed to pull his arm free, but he kept walking with her anyway. Lunch with this girl wouldn't be so bad, he reasoned. Besides, she was pretty, and he had come to town looking for something to draw. Maybe he could even get her to pose for him, if he asked.

If she did, she'd just be humoring him, another voice in his head interjected. Like she was doing now. Trying to keep from being responsible for the death of a suicidal guy she met on the roof of a building.

Suddenly, he had the impulse to run back up the stairs and fling himself off the roof, to save them both the trouble of pretending to care about the other. He pushed it away in favor of what was, he hoped, a more productive train of thought.

"What were you doing up there?" he asked her.

"Breathing," she replied, as if that was a perfectly rational answer to that question.

"Breathing?" he asked, bewildered.

"Yep," she said, "What about you?"

His stomach churned at the question. "Wasn't it obvious?"

She shook her head. "Before that. You were up there for a few minutes before you fell."

"Oh." That did make sense, in its own weird way. But then…. "Wait, how long were you up there?"

She shrugged. "Longer than you."

"I didn't see you."

"It didn't seem like you were looking."

He hated how much sense that made. He also wasn't entirely sure what to say to that, so he didn't say anything. Silence stretched between them, only broken by the sound of their footsteps on the stairs. Focusing on those footsteps, he was able to keep his mind blissfully quiet as they made their way to ground level.

Panic flared in his chest when they got to the building's lobby, though. What if Jaemin was outside? How far had he been able to follow him?

The girl apparently noticed his distress because she stopped and turned to face him. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing," he said quickly. He didn't think he sounded very convincing.

She pursed her lips again in consideration, then asked, "Is there something outside?"

He nodded before he could stop himself, and she nodded in response. He mentally cursed himself for being so obvious, and her for being so perceptive. Then he cursed Jaemin for good measure, for getting him into this mess in the first place.

When it became undeniable that the girl was waiting for him to explain further, he said, “I don’t actually know if he’s out there. I was trying to get away from him. I….” He trailed off, unsure how to continue.

“What does he look like?” the girl asked.

“What?”

“If I know what he looks like, I can help you look out for him. If I see him, I’ll make sure we go a different way,” she explained, her smile back. She didn’t ask who he was, or why Renjun was running from him, or any of the other perfectly reasonable things she could and probably should have asked. Renjun wasn’t entirely sure how to feel about that.

Ultimately, he decided that this girl was probably a bit insane, but she was insane in a way that benefited him, so he opened his sketchbook and showed her one of the sketches he’d done of Jaemin, before he abandoned him.

She studied it for a moment, then nodded decisively. “All right,” she said, taking his hand in hers, “You ready?”

Before he had a chance to answer, she pulled him out the door and onto the street, heading purposefully toward somewhere Renjun had probably never been.

This time, he didn’t pull away from her, and she didn’t let go of his hand.


	3. Names

“So, what’s your name?” Renjun asked.

“Hm?” the girl asked around a huge mouthful of ham sandwich. She’d taken him to a surprisingly cozy little diner in a grungy looking building situated in a grungy part of town. Renjun strongly suspected that this was one of the parts of Gotham that had earned the city its less than stellar reputation. The food here was amazing, though. He’d have to remember the address.

“What’s your name?” Renjun repeated. Then, he realized she didn’t know his name either, so he added, “I’m Renjun.”

“That’s a nice name,” she said. She swallowed the food in her mouth and took a drink of Coke. “This is amazing, don’t you think?” she continued, gesturing with her glass. “I wonder how they get the bubbles in.”

Renjun wasn’t sure if she avoided his question on purpose or was just that distractible. He also wasn’t sure he cared. “No idea,” he said, “But that doesn’t answer my question.”

She hummed. “You can call me Didi,” she replied.

“Is that your real name?” he asked, caught off guard by the phrasing.

“Yes and no,” she said.

Renjun took a sip of his own drink. He was definitely starting to get annoyed by her habit of saying things that made no sense in a tone that sounded like she thought it was the most obvious thing in the world. “No offense, Didi, but what the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

“My name is Didi,” she said, “But that’s only my name for today.”

“Right,” Renjun drew the word out, hoping she could hear the obvious suspicion in his tone. “What was your name yesterday?”

“Same thing it is every other day.” Her eyes glittered. Renjun hadn’t realized just how intense they were before now. It was like she was staring directly into his soul.

“And that would be?”

Didi didn’t break eye contact as she reached down, plucked a fry off her plate, and swiped it through a smear of ketchup. “I don’t think you want to know that, Renjun.” She popped the fry in her mouth.

Renjun scoffed. “Why? You don’t think I could handle it?”

“I think most of the time you could. Today, though, I’m not so sure.”

Anger flared in Renjun’s chest, and he let it work unfiltered, because it was the most normal feeling he’d had all day. “Who the hell do you think you are? You don’t know me! You don’t know anything about me!”

The corners of her mouth turned upward in a knowing smirk. "I know more than you'd think." When Renjun just glowered at her, she continued. "I've met nearly everyone who's ever lived."

"That's impossible," Renjun snapped.

Didi took a sip of her drink, intense eyes glittering. "If you look hard enough, I think you'll find that nothing is truly impossible."

Renjun scoffed. "You get that off a poster? Something with a cute kitten? Maybe a sunset? I hate to break it to you, Didi, but there's no way in hell that's true."

"Well, I hate to break it to you, Renjun," Didi responded, altogether too calmly for his taste, "But it is. I meet everyone, in the end."

"Yeah?" he challenged, "How?"

"It's simple, really. I'm Death."

Renjun's stomach churned at the mention of the word, and then he got angry at it for reacting that way. He glared at Didi and said the first words that actually managed to properly form in his mind. "That's insane."

"Is it?" she asked.

"What are you even talking about? Of course it is." The diner didn't feel so cozy anymore. It felt stifling.

Didi shrugged and took a sip of her drink, a confident smile playing in her lips. That smile only pissed him off more.

"Guess I should've expected this," he said darkly, "What kind of girl goes up to a roof to just breathe?"

"Then why'd you come with me?"

Renjun stood up abruptly. It was like the walls were closing in on him, like everything was converging on those glittering eyes and that confident smirk, sweeping him into a vortex that threatened to swallow him whole. It was all he could do to keep himself from swaying in the dizzying intensity of it all.

"You know what, Didi?" he said, voice far more steady than he expected it to be, "I'm not really sure."

And then he left. He walked right out of the diner and kept walking down the street, away from the girl who thought she was Death.


	4. A Little Too Much Green

It was so ridiculous he might have laughed. Death wasn't a person. Death was a fact of life, plain and simple. And maybe he'd been dealing with it an awful lot lately, but that was just how things went sometimes. People die, and they leave the people closest to them to pick up the pieces, and that was just how things went. There wasn't anyone orchestrating things behind the scenes, choosing who died and who had to stay behind, and even if there was, it certainly wasn't some skinny goth girl who got excited about the bubbles in soda or thought breathing was an act worth doing consciously. Of course Didi turned out to be just another Gotham crazy. He shouldn't have been surprised.

The walk did nothing to calm his nerves. He wanted to paint, or to draw, anything that might actually channel the frustration and the pain into something worthwhile, but in his hurry to get out, he had left his sketchbook back at the diner. He considered going back for it, but the thought of facing Didi again made him feel queasy. But then, he'd poured his soul into that sketchbook over the last several months. To lose it over something as trivial as a girl he didn't want to talk to…. But Didi wasn't just a girl he didn't want to talk to. She was insane. Or if she wasn't insane, then she was deliberately trying to torment him. He thought about the intensity in her face as she told him she was Death and shivered. He'd just have to get a new sketchbook.

And then, because apparently God himself had decided to play some sort of cruel joke on him, the next step he took was on nothing but air, and he realized too late that he was at the top of a flight of stairs, and that after a few painful seconds, he'd be at the bottom.

A blur of sensation later, he was lying in a heap on the landing, letting the pain and dizziness wash over him.

He heard someone call to him from the top of the stairs and then quick footsteps as they made their way down to him. For a second, he was worried that Didi had followed him, but when the voice spoke again, he realized that it was significantly deeper than Didi's.

"Jesus Christ, kid, are you all right?"

"'M fine," Renjun said, though it came out half as a groan, so he didn't think it was very convincing.

"Ya sure?" The voice was a deep, resonant baritone, beautiful but for the fact it was weighed down by a heavy Gotham accent. "Looked like a pretty bad fall."

"Eh, stairs are overrated anyway." Renjun sat up as he responded, the movement making black spots dance in front of his eyes. When the spots cleared, he saw an enormous bear of a man crouched in front of him, smirking.

"So, what, this a protest?" the man asked, "Cause I gotta say, I agree with you in principle, but that looked painful."

Maybe it was the dizziness, but Renjun could not come up with a response to that. Instead, he blinked owlishly at the man, his eyes ultimately choosing to focus on a brilliant streak of white in his otherwise raven-black hair.

After a moment, the man continued, "Seriously though, I know first aid. I can help, if you want."

That brought his brain into sharper focus, and he looked the man in the eyes. "What if I don't want any help?" he fired back. It was vaguely comforting to know that even dazed he could still come up with decent, if obvious retorts.

The man shrugged. "I'd say maybe reconsider, and I'd probably stick around for a bit to make sure you don't pass out."

"Why?" Words spilled out of Renjun's mouth before he could think to stop them. "You don't know me. Why even bother?"

The man regarded him for a moment. His eyes were a weird color. Sort of an aquamarine blue, but with just a little too much green in the undertones. He sighed. "Look, I'm no saint, but I'm not about to leave an injured kid alone at a subway station in lower Gotham."

"Who says I'm injured?" Renjun snapped.

"You're bleeding." He gestured to Renjun's left arm. Looking at it, he saw a bad scrape running across a large swath of his forearm. Blood oozed from a couple different places, though it wasn't bad enough to be fully covered in blood, and now that he saw it, he realized it was practically throbbing with pain. A quick self-inventory revealed a few more, thankfully minor cuts, and several developing bruises.

“Okay,” Renjun conceded, “I’m bleeding. Doesn’t mean I need your help, though.”

“Jeez, kid, I’m just trying to be nice.” 

Renjun glared at him, trying to project just how much that help was not welcome. The man ran a hand through his hair, the white forelock intermingling a little with the black. "Look, I'm not gonna force you to do anything. But, if you want to get patched up, I've got bandages at my place. It's not that far away."

"Oh yeah, I'm totally going to follow a strange man who's twice my size back to his apartment. No way that could end badly," Renjun snarked.

The man regarded him a moment longer, then shrugged. “Well, can’t say I didn’t try.” He stood and started to leave, but stopped when a new voice, painfully familiar, called down from the top of the stairs.

“Renjun?” Didi sounded mildly concerned as she walked down the stairs toward them. “What are you doing down here?”

“It’s a subway station,” he snapped, “What do you think I’m doing?” The man muttered something under his breath, not loud enough for Renjun to hear, but loud enough that he could tell he sounded distinctly amused.

Didi ignored the man. Instead, when she got to the landing they were on, she stopped and looked him over. “You fell again, didn’t you?” She smirked. “You should really stop doing that. It’s bad for your health.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Renjun muttered darkly. He winced as he got to his feet. With two people standing over him, sitting on the ground was making him feel way too small. Not that standing up helped that feeling much, but at least he was close to the same level as the others.

The man cast him a sidelong glance. "Again?" he asked.

"Oh yeah, he almost fell off a roof earlier," Didi informed him, altogether too cheerfully for Renjun's taste. "It's how we met."

"Didi!" Renjun protested, but it was too late. The man's eyes widened, alarm clearly visible on his face.

"You sure you don't want those bandages, kid? Sounds like you might need 'em."

"I'm sure," Renjun almost growled.

"Oh come on, Renjun, he's just trying to be nice," Didi scolded, "Besides, you're bleeding. You need to get yourself patched up."

"Oh my God!" Renjun threw up his hands in exasperation, then winced again as the sudden movement caused pain to shoot through several nerves. He took a deep breath and continued, "Didi, for all I know, this man is a serial killer trying to lure me into a murder dungeon."

Didi pursed her lips, then turned her attention to the man, examining him the same way she had examined Renjun a few hours earlier. After a moment, she turned back to Renjun and said, "Nah, I can vouch for him. He's not the senseless violence type."

Renjun stared at her, flabbergasted, but before he could properly string together the words to describe how insane that statement was, the man spoke up instead.

"Do I know you?" He had narrowed his eyes at Didi, examining her the same way she'd been examining him, except where her expression held curiosity and certainty, his was a mask of confusion.

"We met once," Didi said, "But you probably don’t remember me."

The man stared at her a moment longer, then said, "Okay." He trailed off, then turned to Renjun. "As stellar of a defense as that was, she's right. I'm not going to hurt you."

Renjun opened his mouth to protest, but stopped himself. Yelling at everyone was easy, but it clearly wasn't getting him anywhere. He took a deep breath and tried to center himself, which mostly just sent a fresh wave of pain rolling through him. He really did need medical help. Honestly, he probably needed to go to a hospital. He shuddered at the thought. A hospital would have questions and concerns and they’d probably call Bruce or Alfred and the last thing he needed right now was the “family” deciding he needed constant monitoring or something. If this man was telling the truth, he could probably get the help he needed without anyone official ever getting involved. That was a pretty big if, though.

“How do I know I can trust you?” he asked.

“You trusted me,” Didi said simply.

_And look how that turned out,_ Renjun thought.

The man looked at Didi for a moment, then turned back to Renjun and said, “I guess ya just have to take me at my word.”

Renjun considered that for a moment, then asked, “What’s your name?”

“What?”

“You know our names,” Renjun explained, “It’s unbalanced.”

The man glanced quickly at Didi, then shrugged. “Fair enough. My name’s Peter Jasons.”

“That sounds fake,” Renjun said before he could stop himself.

“Yeah, I get that a lot,” the man responded with an amused smile.

Didi wasn’t saying anything, which Renjun took to mean either she didn’t know his name, or that was the same name he’d given her. That didn’t mean it was real, but it was as good as Renjun was likely to get.

“All right then, Peter,” he said, “I’m going to trust you. But if it turns out you are trying to murder me, I’m going to tell the Red Hood where you live.”

Peter laughed at that, but it was a good-natured laugh. “Well, now I have to help you,” he said, “Wouldn’t want the Hood coming after me.”


	5. Red Flags

Jaemin called Jisung instead of just texting. That was the first red flag.

Jisung missed the call. Once Renjun had gone out, he found himself alone in the manor for the day, so his phone was on silent and his music was loud and he was working through some tricky choreo for a solo piece. He didn't check his notifications until he took a water break.

The notifications were the second red flag. After the first call, Jaemin had sent Jisung no less than twenty-three text messages, then apparently decided texts weren't good enough, called again, and left a voicemail. Jisung barely had time to process this information, let alone read any of the texts, before he got yet another call, Jaemin's name displayed in the center of the screen. This time, he answered.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Didn't you get my texts?" There was a tinge of panic in Jaemin's voice.

"Yeah, but you called before I could read them." After a beat, he added, "I was dancing," so Jaemin knew he wasn't actively ignoring him.

"Oh." Jaemin was quiet for a moment. Then he said, "It's about Renjun."

And that was the third red flag. Jisung knew there was some tension between Renjun, Jaemin, and Jeno -- some sort of fight they'd had back when Jaemin and Jeno had been discovered by the Bats. He didn't know the specifics. Haechan was the one they talked to about it, and Haechan's advice had been to give Renjun space to heal. Given Renjun's general misanthropy over the past few days, Jisung was hoping they'd be able to follow that advice, at least until Renjun started at Gotham Academy. This call all but laughed in the face of that idea.

Jisung did his best to keep his voice level when he said, "Okay. Maybe you should be talking to Renjun about it, then."

"I would, but I'm pretty sure he blocked my number," Jaemin said. Hesitantly, he added, "I could probably hack his phone to make a call go through, but if he doesn't want to speak to me now…."

Jisung sighed. "Well, I'm not sure what you want me to do about it. He went to town earlier, and he hasn't come back yet."

"Yeah, I know."

That couldn't be good. "You do?"

"I saw him earlier. I was on my way to Jeno’s place, and he was standing outside the building. He looked…." Jaemin trailed off, and Jisung got the distinct impression that however that sentence was supposed to end, it wasn't good. "I'm worried about him," Jaemin started again, "I was just wondering how he's doing."

"Jaemin, I've known him for three days. I don't know how he's doing." That wasn't entirely true. Renjun had spent the past few days holed up in his room, painting. He only really came out when he needed to eat. He only talked to Jisung if Jisung started the conversation, and his default method of communication seemed to be biting sarcasm bleeding into open hostility. That was enough to pretty safely assume that Renjun wasn’t, doing very well, but that sort of thing had been pretty common with new kids at his old group home, and Jisung just plain didn't know him well enough to know if he should be concerned. He was also fairly sure that nuance would be lost on Jaemin, at least for right now, and he didn't want him to get more worried than he already was.

Silence stretched between them for a moment, broken eventually by Jaemin. "Can you check?"

"I dunno, Jae-"

"He looked bad, Jisung," Jaemin cut him off, "I don't...I don't know who else he might talk to."

Jisung was fairly sure he wasn't on the list of people Renjun might talk to either, but he had a sinking feeling that he had the best shot at getting a response, if only because his lack of a history with Renjun meant he didn't have any real drama with him.

He sighed again. "Look, I'll check in with him, but don't expect anything big. I'm basically a stranger. He's not gonna tell me that much."

“Okay,” Jaemin said hesitantly.

“I’ll keep you updated, okay,” Jisung said, trying to sound reassuring. “For now, just focus on that tournament. Worrying about it isn’t going to help anyone.”

Jaemin sighed heavily and said, “You’re right. Thanks, Jisung.”

They said their good-byes, and Jisung hung up. He sunk to the floor of the gym with his back against the mirror, reading through Jaemin’s texts and wondering how, exactly, he was supposed to check in with Renjun.

***

Peter’s apartment was remarkably clean, remarkably cozy, and remarkably well-stocked with medical supplies. He explained the last point by saying that he did his best to help out the local street kids, most of whom couldn’t go to an actual doctor if they got injured. When Renjun asked if he thought he was a street kid, Peter said Renjun was welcome to go to a hospital if he wanted, but to not push his luck otherwise. Then he gave Renjun some painkillers and a glass of water and started prepping what he needed to clean the wound on Renjun’s arm.

Didi had insisted on tagging along, supposedly to make sure Renjun didn't abruptly change his mind about getting medical help when she wasn't looking. Renjun wasn't entirely sure how she had decided that was a viable possibility, but he didn't think it would be worth the energy to argue about. When they got to the apartment, she had offered to help-- apparently she knew a little first aid herself-- but Peter had waved her away, saying something about not wanting to take advantage of her. So, now she was sitting next to him on Peter’s couch, playing absently with a black hardcover notebook.

Wait.

“Is that my sketchbook?” Renjun asked.

“Hm?” her gaze snapped up to meet his eyes, as though she’d been lost in thought and his voice brought her back to reality. “Oh! Yeah. You were in such a hurry when you left the diner, you left it behind. I wanted to bring it back to you. It’d be a shame if you lost it.” She smiled as she finished. The expression held multitudes, at once sweet, sincere, and concerned, with something more complex hiding in the softer lines of her face. Renjun was once again at a loss for words, and he found that a not insubstantial part of himself wanted to snatch the book out of her hands, flip to an empty page, and attempt to capture that expression. He doubted his art would be up to the task.

Then, her face fell to a more somber expression. “I’m sorry about earlier. I got caught up in the moment, and I guess I got a bit carried away.”

Renjun wasn’t really sure how to feel about the incident in the diner. On the one hand, it was the sort of batshit insane thing that tripped a million red flags. On the other, he had a hard time reconciling that sort of dark intensity with the girl who got excited about soda bubbles and cared so much about a guy she barely knew that she went to a possible murderer's house with him. He'd already decided she was crazy, after all, and he seriously doubted she was the dangerous kind of crazy.

He sighed heavily. “Whatever. Just...no more death talk, okay?”

Didi perked up, the somber expression falling away as though it had never been there at all. “I think I can manage that,” she said. Then, she gasped, "By the way, I wanted to ask." She held up his sketchbook so the front cover was facing toward him. She tapped a finger on the front, over a simple drawing of Moomin he'd done in silver sharpie when he first got the sketchbook. "Did you draw this?"

Renjun couldn't help but smile. The doodle had a few smudges now-- the product of age and use-- but it was cute and apparently Didi's energy was infectious. "Yeah," he responded, "You like Moomin?"

"I think he's cute," Didi said.

"The fuck is a Moomin?"

Renjun shouldn't have been surprised when Peter spoke. They were in his apartment, after all. That didn't stop him from jumping nearly a foot in the air when the man's deep baritone pierced through their conversation. The sudden movement sent a jolt of pain coursing through him, and he winced.

Peter smirked. “Let’s get you patched up.” He had the gall to sound amused.

Renjun glared at him.

Didi giggled.

“Yeah, laugh at my pain, why don’t you,” Renjun grumbled.

“Yeah, yeah.” Peter waved dismissively, then dragged an ottoman over so it was directly in front of Renjun and sat down. “Let me see that arm.”

They lapsed back into silence as he started working. Renjun had to bite back tears as the antiseptic stung the wounds on his arm.

After a few minutes, Peter asked, “You like drawing?”

“What do you care?”

“I’m just making conversation, jeez.” Peter didn’t push the issue, though, opting instead to work in silence once more.

After a moment, Renjun sighed. “I prefer painting,” he admitted.

Peter hummed. “You any good?”

“What kind of question is that?”

“Well, are you?”

“I’m all right, I guess.”

“You know, a friend of mine’s an artist. Kyle Rayner. You heard of him?”

The name sounded familiar, but Renjun couldn’t quite tell if it was genuine recognition or the fact that the name also sounded as generically American as you could get without straight up being John Smith. He shook his head.

“You should look him up sometime. He’s got talent.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Renjun said curtly.

“Come to think of it,” Peter continued, “He’s doing an exhibition in Midtown today. You should check it out.”

Renjun was about to object -- he didn’t feel much like going to an art gallery right now, regardless of how good a giant from lower Gotham thought the artist was-- but Didi cut in, “Oh, that sounds lovely! What do you think, Renjun?” And her eyes were sparkling and at that point Renjun would have to be the world’s most colossal jerk to say no.

So instead he said, “Sure, could be fun.”

And Didi smiled even brighter and, for a moment, Renjun forgot about the pain.


	6. Skin Lamps

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: This chapter does not contain actual skin lamps

It took a bit longer for Peter to finish addressing all of Renjun's wounds, and he let them stay a bit longer after that to make sure Renjun didn't pass out on the street when the painkillers fully set in. Having seemingly decided that everything was once again right with the world, Didi struck up a conversation with Peter that very quickly transitioned from talking about art to talking about literature and then specifically classic literature and right around the time Peter decided to launch into a heated defense of the artistic merit of _Pride and Prejudice_ , Renjun decided his time would be better spent researching this Kyle Rayner person.

That, however, didn't go to plan either. His phone was on silent, as it had been for most of the past month to avoid the steady stream of notifications that had started rolling in since his parents' death. The notifications had slowed considerably in the past week-- bolstered in large part by him blocking many of the most persistent phone numbers.

Now, though, he had three texts from an entirely new number. The first two were from a little over half an hour ago.

_Hey, Alfred wants to know if you're going to be back for dinner_

_This is Jisung btw_

Renjun might have ignored them if not for the third message, which Jisung had sent just a few minutes ago.

_If you don't respond in the next 10 minutes I'm gonna assume you were kidnapped and call the police_

Renjun considered sending back a quick _Sorry, wrong number_ , but the chance of Jisung deciding that was also a good reason to call the police was a bit too high for his liking, so instead he sent, _That's a bit harsh, don't you think?_

A few seconds passed, and then three dots appeared on the screen. A few seconds after that, they were replaced with the message, _Speaking as someone who has actually been kidnapped: no._

Renjun snorted and responded, _Whatever, rich boy_ , before closing the messaging app and opening Google. He was trying to figure out how to spell Rayner when a new text came through.

Just answer the question

He rolled his eyes and reopened his text messages.

_If Alfred wants to know so badly he can text me himself._

This time, he waited for Jisung to respond. The replies came in quick succession.

_Dude Alfred's like 90_

_He doesn't text_

_But whatever, I guess I'll tell him to call you next time_

Renjun grimaced. _Please don't_ , he responded.

_Yeah thats what I thought_ , Jisung texted.

_Smartass_ , he replied.

"Who're you talking to?" Didi asked. She leaned in to peer over Renjun's shoulder at his phone. Renjun's heart skipped a beat.

"Oh, uh, just a kid I live with."

"Your brother?"

Renjun wrinkled his nose at the thought. "More like a roommate."

Didi nodded thoughtfully, reading the messages. "You should respond. He's probably worried."

Renjun scoffed. "He doesn't even know me. I only met him a few days ago."

"That doesn't mean he's not worried," she reasoned, "And can you blame him, with the day you've had?"

As she said that, a new message came in. _Srsly tho, if Bruce comes back and finds out you've been gone all day and no one knows where you are, he's gonna freak out. Please just give me something to work with so he doesn't call the police. Or worse._

Now that was interesting. _What could be worse?_

Three dots appeared on the screen, and Renjun and Didi watched them until they resolved into a message. _When I was kidnapped he sent the Red Hood to rescue me_

"Yeah, okay," Renjun conceded, "Maybe he is worried about me." Not for the reasons Didi thought he might be but, well, Jisung wasn't a total monster, he supposed.

_All right, fine. You've convinced me._

_I'm hanging out with a girl. Not sure when I'll be back. Don't wait up._

"There," he said to Didi, "You happy now?"

She shrugged. "I guess so." She smiled at him.

He smiled back. It was more of a gesture of a smile really. Nowhere near as radiant as hers, but it was genuine, and he supposed that was what mattered.

A soft snort of laughter came from across the room, and Renjun turned toward the sound. After he was done patching Renjun up, Peter had started moving around, putting away medical supplies and generally tidying up. He was now leaning against his kitchen island, trying and failing to hold back laughter. When he saw them looking, he flashed a wry smile. "You two're adorable."

Renjun scowled at him, then turned back to Didi. "Were we gonna go to an art gallery or something?"

"You think you're up for it?" she asked.

"Yeah. Anything to get out of this creep’s house." He shot a pointed glare at Peter.

"Excuse you," Peter protested, voice laced with sarcasm and feigned hurt, "I am a delight."

"Is that so?" Renjun shot back, "Want us to stay forever then? Maybe murder us and use our skin to make lampshades?"

"Please," Peter scoffed, "Skin lamps are way too gaudy. Besides, I have other shit I need to do today."

"Well, in that case," Didi cut in, “We shouldn't take any more of your time." She stood and started toward the door. Renjun followed her.

Peter walked them outside, and gave them directions to the gallery his friend's art was in.

"Thank you so much for helping us out, Mr. Jasons." Didi beamed at Peter once they were outside.

He gave her a courteous smile. "It was nothing. Between you and me, though, you might want to make sure your friend watches where he's going. He can't afford to fall down another staircase anytime soon."

"I'm right here!" Renjun protested.

"Yeah, yeah," Peter waved dismissively, "Now get out of here before I change my mind about skinning you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you were wondering where you can read about Jisung's kidnapping adventure, check out chapters 9 and 10 of [A Round of Robins](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20251123/chapters/49890908%22).


	7. Peachy Keen

Renjun had been to this gallery once or twice before, though it had been a while since the last time he went. He had to admit, the location was fairly encouraging. It was a small, locally owned place that always made a point of showcasing underrated artists. If Kyle Rayner met their standards, he had to be pretty good.

As it turned out, Kyle Rayner's art was, in fact, very good. It was also very diverse. The exhibition featured everything from highly stylized digital pop art to gorgeously rendered naturalistic paintings. There were even a couple sculptures. In Renjun’s estimation, there were two major throughlines that brought the collection together. The first was that Kyle seemed to favor subject matter that was pretty fantastical. The second was that he apparently really liked this one particular shade of green.

Didi loved everything about it, of course. Renjun was starting to wonder if there was anything she didn't like. He had to admit, though, that her energy was infectious. He was actually starting to feel pretty good.

That is, until he saw Kyle Rayner, and realized why his name had sounded so familiar, at which point his heart stuttered, stopped, and proceeded to drop into his stomach.

"We have to go," he said.

"Hm?" Didi shot him a quizzical glance. "I thought you were having fun."

"I was, but…." Renjun wasn't sure how to end that sentence. Kyle was across the room, chatting with a small group of people, many of whom were active in the Gotham art scene. It didn’t look like he'd seen them yet, and Renjun really wanted to keep it that way. He turned in the opposite direction of Kyle's group and started walking away.

A moment later, Didi caught up with him. "Is it the guy from earlier?" she asked.

It took a second before Renjun realized what she was talking about. “Oh. No, it’s….”

He stopped, a question bubbling to the surface of his mind. Why was he running? This wasn’t like with Jaemin. He hadn’t seen Kyle in years, and even then, they barely knew each other. He probably wouldn’t even recognize him. And yet, knowing that, recognizing it as truth, didn’t help. The darkness was descending around him, and he didn’t even really know why and oh god was this just his life now? Was seeing a casual acquaintance from nearly five years ago always going to send him into a panic? What was wrong with him? Why was he running? Why-

“Renjun?” Didi’s voice pulled him back to reality. She looked worried.

“Sorry,” he muttered.

She smiled softly. “Come on. Let’s get some air.”

There was a pocket park about a block away from the gallery, and they sat there for a while. Neither of them spoke. Renjun did his best to focus on studying the leaves in the park's trees and did his best to ignore the thoughts about Kyle and Didi and Jaemin and his parents and just about anything except the trees really. Without consciously registering it, he opened his sketchbook to a blank page and started drawing, capturing as much detail as he possibly could. He barely noticed when Didi walked away.

He did notice when she came back.

"Do you think the chemical aftertaste is the reason people eat hot dogs, or is it some kind of bonus?"

He looked up to find Didi sitting next to him, with half a hot dog that seemed to be topped with every condiment known to man.

"Uh...honestly? It's the reason I don't eat hot dogs."

"Oh? Well, I think it's just peachy keen." She took another bite of the hot dog.

"If it tastes like peaches, that's either something in the sauce or a really good reason not to eat that," Renjun said absently. After a moment's consideration, he added, "Or both."

"It's an expression," Didi replied, "It doesn't actually taste like peaches."

"I know."

They lapsed into an uncomfortable silence for a moment, and one of the thoughts Renjun had desperately been trying to subdue found its way to the surface of his brain and stuck there. She'd been having a good time, and he'd ruined it. He didn't even have a good reason why.

"Do you want the rest?" she asked, "I don't think I can finish it."

"I'm sorry," he said.

There was a long pause as she took in the response, and then she asked, "About what?"

"Earlier. Kyle Rayner, he's a fan of my mom. Her art, I mean. He used to come up to her gallery shows, back when we lived in California. He was usually the only one there even close to my age, so we ended up talking. I haven't seen him in years, and we were never exactly close, so I guess I didn't recognize his name until I saw him there." Once he started talking, the words just kept coming out, as though he'd been caught in a waterfall. "But...I don’t get it. I saw him and I just...froze up. But there was no reason for it. We barely know each other, and he always seemed like a decent guy, and…." He trailed off, unsure of where that sentence would go if it continued, and a little afraid of finding out.

"Oh," Didi said, "You don’t have to apologize for that."

"But-"

"Sounds like he reminded you of your parents. That's a pretty fresh wound for you right now. It can be a lot to deal with if you're not expecting it."

He locked eyes with her. Her eyes were as intense as ever, but there was something softer in them now. “You don’t have to be nice to me, you know.”

She scoffed, any hint of softness disappearing from her eyes. “Renjun, I haven’t done a single thing today out of obligation. And that includes leaving the gallery with you.”

His mind went blank. “Really?”

“Really. But you know what? If you don’t want me to be here, just tell me. I’ll leave.”

He regarded her for a moment longer, then huffed and looked away. "Do what you want."

She didn't move. A voice in his head started questioning her motives, but he did his best to stifle it. She had told him flat out that she wasn't doing this for him. Even if she did want to leave, she had her own reasons for staying. For now, at least, he'd need to take her at her word.

He looked back at her. "Are you really not going to finish that?"

She smirked. "I thought you didn't eat hot dogs."


	8. Good Weird

They stayed there for a while longer, as Renjun finished the hot dog, and then finished his sketch. Didi hardly moved, just sat next to him with her eyes closed and a serene smile on her face.

“Breathing again?” Renjun asked after a while.

“It’s a beautiful day,” she responded.

“Yeah.” They sat in silence for a moment longer before he asked, “Do you want to go do something?”

She hummed, considering. “Like what?”

“I don’t know, walk around?” He thought for a moment. “The sun’s going to set soon. Maybe we can find a good view.”

“All right.”

They agreed to head vaguely west. Worst that happened, they’d just wander around until it got dark and they got bored.

They didn’t make it very far. About a block past the gallery, a voice called out to them, “Renjun Huang?”

Renjun stiffened at the sound of his name.

Didi leaned in close to him and asked, "Wanna make a run for it?"

He considered it. It was tempting. _Really_ tempting. But….

"You know what? I'm kinda tired of running."

She shrugged, and the two of them turned around. Sure enough, Kyle Rayner was hurrying down the street toward them.

When he got close enough that he could speak easily, Kyle said, "Wow, I haven't seen you in ages."

"Yeah, it's almost like I moved to the other side of the country," Renjun retorted.

Kyle laughed good-naturedly, “Not much of an excuse on my end. I’ve been in New York for about a year now. Trying to break into the comics industry.”

“You draw comics?” Didi asked.

“Ah, I’ve only done a few one-off indie comics so far,” Kyle admitted, “Mostly, I do graphic design and, uh, personal projects.”

“Like the pieces in the gallery?”

“You came to my exhibition?”

Didi nodded. “Your art is lovely.”

“Yeah,” Renjun added, “It’s a bit weird, but, like, good weird.”

Kyle grinned. “I’m glad you like it.” Then, to Didi he added, “You know, I don’t think we’ve met.”

They introduced themselves, and Renjun marveled at how easily Kyle had started up a conversation, and how generally comfortable it was. He didn’t ask about his parents, or how he was holding up, or any of the other broken record phrases Renjun had come to expect in the past month. This was just...normal small talk with an acquaintance you haven’t seen in a while. It was weirdly refreshing.

“Hey, so there’s this place in town I’ve been wanting to try out,” Kyle was saying, “How about I buy you guys a drink and we can catch up?”

Didi looked to Renjun for confirmation, and Renjun said the first thing that came to his mind. “I’m seventeen.”

Kyle laughed. “Well, I can buy you something non-alcoholic, can’t I?”

Renjun thought about it for a moment, then sighed. “You know what? Sure. Why not?”

***

“She’s coming,” the Eremite breathed, “I can feel her.”

He had waited a long time for this moment. Lifetimes even. Now, his moment had finally arrived. He relished its presence, but knew all too well that he could not let it slip away.

He’d spent weeks in this city, planning and preparing. Death was no fool; she would not be easily tricked. If, however, he could lure her into his trap, she would be powerless to stop him.

To that end, he had enlisted the help of a local boy. He was an insolent child, far too arrogant and self-aggrandizing for his own good, but easy enough to manipulate. He would serve his purpose.

She was coming. And soon enough, all her secrets would belong to him.


	9. Boy Wonder

Around sunset, Chenle found Jisung in the dance studio, and they went down to the batcave to prepare for the night’s patrol. They chatted for a while, catching up on each other’s days and ribbing each other about minor things. Soon enough, though, Chenle was off to do….something on the bat-computer, and Jisung found himself in the training area working through some of the less fun routines.

Today was one of the good days. He was able to find his rhythm pretty quickly.

“Did you hear from Renjun?”

He started at the question, promptly lost balance, and fell flat on his face.

“Sorry,” the voice said sheepishly.

He groaned and sat up, waving Jeno away as he tried to help him. “Aren’t you supposed to be at a tournament?”

“It ended early,” Jeno said, “Low attendance.”

“A lot of people pulled out after the attack last month,” Jaemin added from the doorway.

Jisung stood up. He couldn’t say he was that surprised. Gotham always got a bit tense when the Joker was out and about, and he doubted many people from out of town would want to risk coming here after the attack at the museum, even if they had managed to get Joker back in Arkham last week.

“Seriously, though, did you hear from Renjun?” Jaemin asked again, “Alfred said he hasn’t come back yet.”

Jisung sighed. “Yeah, a couple hours ago. He said he’s on a date.”

That earned him a pair of blank stares.

“A date?” Jeno repeated. He didn’t sound suspicious, exactly, but definitely skeptical.

“Yep,” Jisung confirmed.

“Are you sure?” Jaemin asked.

“He said that he’s hanging out with a girl and that he’s not planning on coming back any time soon. I can read between the lines.”

They still looked skeptical, but before either could say anything, Haechan poked his head in the door. "What are you two doing here?"

“Tournament ended early, so we figured we’d see if you guys needed help on patrol.” Jeno said.

Haechan raised an eyebrow, then shrugged. "Your funeral. Suit up, then. B wants us all ready to go in ten minutes."

And then he was gone. Jeno cast a worried look at Jisung and followed him out. Jaemin, however, held back. He hadn’t been cleared for patrol yet, so suiting up was less important.

“You’d tell us if he wasn’t okay, right?”

Jisung sighed. “I’m keeping an eye on him, okay? But I’m not magic. I can’t just force him to be completely fine.”

“I know, I just… I wish I could _do_ something.”

“Well, you’ll see him at school in a few days, right? Maybe think about what you’ll do when that happens.”

“I guess….”

“For now, though, I think you just have to trust him to stay out of trouble.”

“But what if-” Jaemin started.

“And if he _does_ get in trouble, you’ll just have to trust me to get him out of it.” Jisung put on his best Robin smile. “I am the Boy Wonder, after all. It’s what I do.”

Jaemin blinked at him for a second, then laughed. “Well, when you put it like that….”

“Exactly. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go make sure Batman isn’t planning on tailing Renjun himself.” And with that, Jisung walked away, looking far, far more confident than he actually felt.


	10. Life Moves On

Looking back on the day, it had gotten pretty wild. Yet, even with that, the last place Renjun expected to spend his evening was in a bar in midtown Gotham with Kyle Rayner and a crazy girl he’d met a few hours ago. If you’d asked him this morning, he’d say he wouldn’t have been caught dead doing anything of the sort. But, this was actually pretty all right.

Kyle talked for a while about life in New York and how different it was from living in LA. At some point, Didi wandered away, and when the conversation inevitably shifted to being about Renjun, they talked about art school and his plans to get into one of the good schools back in California.

"You know," Kyle said, "If you want to stay closer to home, I've heard there's a pretty good school down in Bludhaven."

"Why the hell would I want to move to Bludhaven?" Renjun snapped.

"Oh you know, smaller school, less expensive, still well respected, only an hour away fro-" Kyle stopped suddenly, "You know, you're right. Bludhaven's a trash tier city."

Renjun narrowed his eyes. "No, go on. An hour away from what?"

"Your...girlfriend?"

Renjun scoffed. "Okay, first of all, she's not my girlfriend. Second, even if she _was_ my girlfriend, that's a horrible reason to choose a college, and third, we both know that's not what you were going to say."

Kyle sighed. “I’m sorry. I’ve been trying not to bring up your parents. I know how it feels to lose someone like that.”

Renjun could feel his blood starting to boil.This was exactly the kind of shit he’d been afraid would happen. “Oh really?” he asked, not bothering to hide the scathing tone in his voice. “You know how it feels to have your entire family murdered by a deranged clown and then be forced to watch as the national news beats it into the ground for a week?”

Kyle regarded him for a moment, then looked down at his drink. “A few years ago, I came home from work and found my girlfriend’s body in our fridge.” He cast a sidelong glance at Renjun. “So, you know, not exactly.”

“Shit,” Renjun breathed. That was decidedly not what he’d been expecting.

“Yeah,” Kyle said, “Pretty much.”

They sat in silence for a while, and then Kyle said, “It gets easier. I’m sure you’ve heard that, like, a thousand times already, but it does.”

Renjun took a shaky breath. “I’m not sure I can believe that.”

“I’m not saying things’ll go back to normal,” Kyle continued, “And I’m also not saying it won’t still be hard sometimes. It’s been three years, and I still have days when I feel like I’m back in that apartment.” He sipped his drink. “But, well, sooner or later, life moves on. And at some point, you just have to move on with it.”

Renjun scoffed. “Easier said than done.”

Kyle laughed. “Yeah, no kidding. But it can be even easier to forget when you’re in the thick of things. And that’s when you’re most likely to do something stupid.”

“Yeah?” Renjun asked, “Like what?”

Kyle raised an eyebrow and Renjun was suddenly really self-conscious of the bruises from his fall earlier that day. “You know, if you ever need to talk, I’m here for you.”

“Yeah, sure,” Renjun said, standing up, “I think I’m gonna go find Didi. Thanks for the drinks.” Before Kyle could stop him or say anything else, he disappeared into the crowd.

Didi turned out not to be too hard to find. She was standing near the door of the place, chatting with a guy Renjun recognized from Gotham High. He went over to them.

“Didi, can I talk to you for a second?” he asked.

“Sure thing,” she said, “I’ll be right back, Theo.”

They walked far enough away that they would be out of Theo’s earshot before Renjun asked, “Do you know who that guy is?”

“Sure,” Didi said, “His name’s Theo.”

“Yeah, I _know_ his name’s Theo. He goes to my school. And he’s hella bad news, Didi. You can’t just _talk_ to him.”

“Oh?” Didi smirked. “Are you trying to tell me what I can and can’t do now?”

“Yes. No!” Renjun stammered. “Look, just trust me, okay? He’s a total creep!”

“Hey baby,” Theo called, “You gonna be long?”

“No. Just a second,” Didi responded.

“See?!” Renjun hissed. “He just called you _baby_. Who _does_ that?”

“Hey, I know you,” Theo swaggered up to them, pointing at Renjun. “You’re that weird artsy kid who hates everyone.”

Renjun just glared at him, so Theo turned to Didi, “This guy bothering you, baby?”

“Oh, not at all,” Didi said, “In fact, I quite like him.”

“Riiiight,” Theo cast a side-long glance at Renjun, then turned back to Didi, “So listen, baby, there’s this place I know that’s _way_ cooler than this dump. You wanna come along? I can show you a _real_ great time.”

Renjun practically vomited in his mouth at that last line, but Didi hummed, considering.

“Okay,” she said, smiling.

“What?” Renjun asked.

“All riiiiiight,” Theo said, “Let’s go.”

“Didi, you cannot be serious,” Renjun said.

“Come on, Renjun, it’ll be fun!”

“Jeez, babe,” Theo smirked, “You still talking to this dork?”

“Well, yeah, he’s my friend,” Didi responded, “And we’re hanging out this evening. She grabbed Renjun’s arm and pulled him in close. “So he’s coming with us. Wouldn’t want him to miss the fun, right?” She finished by shooting Theo one of her heart-melting smiles.

All three of them were still for a moment before Theo scoffed. “Whatever. Dork can come too, I guess.”

Renjun really, really wanted to protest, but Didi was weird, and he was worried that if he did, she’d drop him and go with the creep by herself and there was no way that was ending well. So, he relented and let Theo lead them out onto the street.

As they left the bar, Renjun could have sworn he saw a flash of red on a nearby rooftop.


	11. A Night You'll Never Forget

It had taken some doing, but Jisung had eventually managed to convince Bruce that they should not send someone to go get him and they definitely shouldn’t have anyone actively stalking him, especially if that someone was Batman, because Renjun was probably going to be fine, and if everything was fine and Renjun found out Batman was following him, he was going to get very, very angry and that was a great way to start their relationship on the worst possible foot. The compromise he wound up coming to was to have Robin patrol the area of the city Renjun was currently in, which Jisung was pretty sure only worked because that area happened to be a reasonably calm part of Midtown Gotham. So, Jisung had spent an hour or so running rooftops in the area before picking a building that was fairly close to a popular bar in the area and settling in for a bit of a rest.

Or, that was the idea at least. He had barely gotten there when a familiar voice called, “Fancy meeting you here, Twinkle Toes.”

Jisung groaned and turned toward the Red Hood as he approached. “I really wish you’d stop calling me that.”

“Not a chance,” Hood responded. Jisung could just hear the smirk in his voice.

He sighed. “What are you doing here, anyway? This is way out of your territory.”

“I’m worried about someone,” Hood replied, “Got intel that they’re probably in there.” He gestured at the bar.

“Please don’t tell me it’s Renjun.”

“Well, he did fall down a flight of stairs earlier.”

“He what?”

“Yeah, he was brooding about something and tripped into a subway station. By sheer coincidence, I was out getting groceries at the time and saw it happen.”

“Jesus.” Jisung pinched the bridge of his nose. “And here I’ve been telling everyone that he’s fine.”

“Eh, he’s a bit banged up but I wouldn’t be too concerned. I patched him up, so I can safely say there won’t be any lasting damage. Probably.”

“Great,” Jisung deadpanned.

“Honestly, I’m more worried about the girl he’s with.”

“What? Why?”

Jason was quiet for a long moment before he responded. “I’m not sure how to explain it. It’s like, there’s something about her. She feels important somehow. Powerful even. And I should know why, but I don’t.”

“I don’t think deja-vu’s a good reason to get worried.”

“Maybe, but… I dunno. Something’s not adding up.”

****

They walked for nearly half an hour before Theo turned down a shady-looking side street.

“So where’s the party?” Didi asked.

“Hm? It’s in here.” Theo stopped in front of a drab-looking building and opened the door. “Come on, it’ll be great.”

Didi followed him into a long, dark corridor, and Renjun followed her. The air in the building was hot and damp. It smelled musty.

“Hey, Didi? Remember what I was saying earlier about serial killers trying to lure us in?”

“Oh don’t be like that, Renjun,” Didi responded, “Theo’s going to show us a really great night. Right, Theo?”

Theo stopped next to another door, turned back to them, and smirked. “Yeah, babe. It’s going to be a night you’ll never forget.” Then, he pushed open the door and stepped aside. “After you.”

Everything about this situation was screaming that something was horribly, horribly wrong.

“Didi, we need to get out of here,” Renjun said, but she was already walking through the door.

She turned back toward him and regarded him for a moment. “You can leave if you want,” she said, “But I’d like to check it out.” And then she stepped inside.

“Yeah, art boy,” Theo said, “Why don’t you fuck off and me and her can have a good time.”

Anger flared in Renjun’s chest. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” he snapped and stormed inside.

He had intended to just grab Didi and get her out of there, but he stopped short when he saw the contents of the room. The walls and ceiling were covered in vines. The floor was made mostly of cheap concrete, but it was super cracked and nasty-looking plants were sprouting through places where the concrete had been completely reduced to rubble. In the center of the room stood an old man with wild white hair and a rumpled business suit. In the dim light, it almost looked like he didn’t have eyes.

Didi was giving the man an inquisitive look. “Are you here for the party too?” she asked.

When she spoke, the corners of the man's mouth turned upwards in a sickening smile. "Well," he said in a quiet raspy voice, "It seems the boy wasn't completely useless after all."

He started toward Didi, and Renjun sprang into action, running and putting himself between the man and Didi. "Don't you dare touch her," he yelled.

The man came to a stop inches away from him and Renjun's eyes widened as his blood went cold. This man didn't just look like he had no eyes.

"Your bravery is commendable, boy," he rasped, "But this insolence must be punished." Before Renjun could react, he grabbed his left arm with more force than Renjun thought possible. Renjun screamed as the man's fingers dug into the scrape from earlier and kept screaming as the man pulled him away from Didi and hurled him across the room. He landed hard on the concrete floor. Dark spots swam in front of his eyes.

Distantly, he heard Didi scream as well. He tried to sit up, succeeded in proving himself up on his elbows, and peered up through the haze.

The man with no eyes was standing in the center of the room, holding a glittering piece of metal in his hand. "At last," he breathed, "I have it."

And then the strength left Renjun's arms. He collapsed back to the floor, and everything went black.


	12. Trapped

When Renjun came to, he immediately wished he hadn’t. He felt like he’d been hit by a bus.

“Renjun?” Didi asked from somewhere above him.

He groaned in response.

“How are you feeling?”

“Terrible.” He rolled onto his side and slowly pushed himself up to a seated position. As he did, Didi wrapped her arms around his shoulders, steadying him.

“I’m sorry,” she said, “I shouldn’t have come here. I should’ve listened to you. I...I can get a bit cocky sometimes and, well, I made a mistake.”

Renjun regarded her for a moment. She looked scared. That scared him as well.

“Thanks,” he said, as much for himself as for Didi, “But we can’t exactly do much about that now. Let’s just get out of here before that guy comes back.”

“That...might be a bit easier said than done,” she said.

“What…?” Renjun trailed off as he took a look around the room. For the most part, it looked the same as when they’d come in, but the vines had grown. Worryingly, they were now covering the door, which was now shut. In other words, they were trapped. At least Theo and the scary blind guy were nowhere in sight.

“Okay...well, we could call the police,” he said. That was an idea that filled him with a different kind of dread, but he’d much rather deal with the police than sit here waiting for that man to come back. Or for someone else to find them. This place had Poison Ivy’s fingerprints all over it, and she was distinctly not someone he wanted to run into.

He pulled out his phone, keyed in 911, and then stopped. “There’s no service.” No internet, no data, and, worryingly, no cell service. Okay, well, he’d just need to move around a bit. See if he could find a place in the room where he could reach someone. Shakily, he stood up and started walking around.

Nearly an hour later, he had conclusively determined that they wouldn’t be calling anyone. He sat back down next to Didi.

“Why do you think that guy was targeting you?” he asked.

“You don’t want to know,” she replied.

He regarded her for a moment. Her ankh was missing. “Does he think you’re Death, too?”

She nodded. “I can’t think of another reason he’d do this.”

Naturally. Crazy begets crazy after all. “Do you think he’ll be back?”

“I don’t know. Maybe. Maybe he doesn’t think he needs to, now that he has my sigil.”

“Can he actually do anything with it?”

“Depends on what he’s planning.”

Well. That wasn’t very encouraging.

They sat in silence for a while. Renjun was starting to get hungry. He could really go for some of his mom’s xiao long bao right now but, well, that wouldn’t be an option even if they weren’t trapped. Gotham had taken that from him just like it had taken everything else. Just like it had led him to meeting a beautiful crazy girl and then trapped him in a room with her, waiting for their own fates to be decided by a completely different crazy person.

“I hate this city,” he said.

“Don’t,” she replied, “This sort of thing happens everywhere.”

Renjun was about to retort, but then he thought about Kyle and his girlfriend and realized she was probably right. “Gotham’s pretty blatant about it, though.”

“That’s just because you’re in the middle of things.”

Renjun wasn’t sure how to respond to that.

"I bet your brother's worried about you," Didi said after a while.

"Jisung?" Renjun asked.

"Yeah."

“Maybe,” he ceded. He thought back to their earlier conversation and smiled slightly. “Who knows, maybe he really will call the police. Or one of the local vigilantes.”

Didi smiled back. “I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”


	13. Ivy's Place

Jason’s plan, it turned out, was essentially to keep tabs on Renjun and his girlfriend, Didi, to help keep them out of trouble and make sure the two of them survived the night. After learning that Renjun had not only tripped into a subway station earlier that day, but also had apparently almost thrown himself off a roof, Jisung agreed that that was probably a good idea. Jason had a friend in the bar who was keeping an eye on them, so the two of them settled in on the roof to wait until something went south inside, or until Didi and Renjun left.

The stakeout lasted approximately five minutes, at which point a pair of assholes decided to mug a group of college girls in the alley behind the bar, and Robin and the Red Hood abandoned the roof to go help the girls. The fight was over pretty quick, and Robin was stuck babysitting the muggers while Hood left to make sure the girls were able to get a safe ride home.

He was just finishing tying them up when a voice behind him said, “Wow, looks like I missed the action.”

Robin whirled around and saw a tall man with a relaxed pose and a bemused expression standing in the doorway that served as the back entrance to the bar. He slipped into a defensive stance in case the man was friends with the muggers, put on his best Boy Wonder grin, and said, “Not to worry, sir. These two ain’t causing any more trouble tonight.”

The man stepped into the alley and pulled the door closed behind him. Then, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a bright green ring, glowing faintly in the dim light. “Don’t worry,” he said, “I’m one of the good guys.”

“What’s a Green Lantern doing in Gotham?” he asked, not bothering to hide his wonder. He’d never seen a lantern ring in person before.

“Personal business mostly,” the Green Lantern said, slipping the ring on his finger, “But I’m also helping out a friend. Speaking of which, you wouldn’t happen to know where the Red Hood is, would you?”

What did a Green Lantern want with the Red Hood? Robin was about to voice that exact thought when Hood’s voice, distorted by the modulator in his helmet, came from the mouth of the alley. “You better have good news for me, Rayner.”

“Well, hello to you too,” the Green Lantern--Rayner--said.

Hood shot him a look, the effect of which was definitely dampened by the fact he was wearing an expressionless helmet, and Rayner scoffed.

“I have news, at least. But _maybe_ we should talk somewhere a bit more private.”

As if on cue, one of the goons Robin had just tied up groaned loudly. A few minutes later, the three of them were back on the roof.

“Okay, first things first,” Rayner started, “If you’ve got a way to track their phones or something, now would be a good time to start doing it.”

Jisung raised an eyebrow. “What happened?” he asked.

“Uh….” Rayner glanced at Jason, who had pulled out a phone and was in the process of keying something into it.

“Kid knows what’s going on,” Jason said, “And I thought you were supposed to be watching them.”

“Yeah, well I thought you were supposed to be watching the exits,” Rayner shot back. Then, he turned to Jisung and said, “It’s probably not serious. Renjun and Didi met up with a kid they knew and left. I was on my way to catch up with Hood when I ran into you. I’m Kyle by the way.”

“Uh...I’m Robin.” It was weird watching someone be so cavalier about their identity.

“Figured,” Kyle replied, “Like the updates to the suit, by the way. They, uh, suit you.” He finished with a goofy grin, and the fact that he was friends with _Jason_ of all people rocketed to the top of the list of weird things about him. He seemed like he’d get along way better with Dick.

“It’s bad news, Kyle,” Jason cut in. “Renjun’s phone doesn’t have a signal.”

“Can we still track him?” Jisung asked.

“Assuming his phone was still on when he left the bar.” He continued poking at the phone for another minute or so and then went rigid.

“Uh...Hood?” Kyle asked.

Jason might’ve answered, but then Kyle’s ring started glowing a lot brighter and a frantic voice, which sounded _way_ too young to be a Green Lantern, came from it. “Kyle? Kyle, are you there? I need help!”

“I’m kinda in the middle of something,” Kyle spoke into the ring.

“I know, I’m sorry! But there’s a red lant-Ah!” The voice cut out with a startled scream.

“Of all the...” Kyle muttered. Then, to the ring, he said, “Hold on, I’ll be right there.” Then, he was engulfed in a green light and suddenly there was a full on Green Lantern standing on the roof with them. “Sorry, Jay,” he said.

“You take care of your kid, we’ll take care of ours.” Jason replied.

“You better,” Kyle said. And then he was gone. Jisung couldn’t help but stare in wonderment at the trail of green light that followed him.

“Believe it or not, he’s only the second flashiest lantern,” Jason said. He was smirking again.

Jisung glared at him. “Did you find Renjun?”

“I know where to look.” Jason had put the phone away and was pulling out his grapple. “You coming?”

***

Jason stopped in front of a run-down building in the East End. Jisung stumbled as he came to a landing beside him.

“You think he’s in there?” he asked.

“I hope not,” Jason replied, walking toward the door.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jisung asked as he followed him.

Jason didn’t answer. Instead, he waved for Jisung to stay back and slowly opened the door.

Inside, was a hallway, lit by flickering fluorescent lights. It was absolutely covered in thick green vines. Jisung took a step back as one of the near ones started moving, slithering and extending out toward them like a snake.

“Yep,” Jason said, “That’s what I was afraid of.” He nudged the vine back inside with his foot and shut the door.

“This is Poison Ivy’s place?” Jisung tried really hard not to think of what would have happened to Renjun if he’d stumbled across Poison Ivy. Were they already too late?

“This _was_ Ivy’s place,” Jason corrected, “She just got outta Arkham a few days ago. Won’t be back here for at least a couple weeks.”

“Then why…?”

“It’s not like she had time to clean the place out,” Jason said, “Most likely, someone triggered a failsafe. Kinda like a living burglar alarm.”

“Oh.” Jisung thought about that for a second. “Can we un-trigger it?”

Jason didn’t respond for a while. He looked like he was thinking. Jisung was just about to prompt him when he said, “You should get back to patrol. I can take it from here.”

“What?!” Jisung asked incredulously.

“I’m serious, kid. This just got way too dangerous. B’ll kill me if-”

“Are you _kidding_ me? Renjun’s probably stuck in Poison Ivy’s death trap and you’re worried about _my_ safety?”

“It’s not a death trap,” Jason said, calmly, “But the people I need to talk to to get him out aren’t gonna be too happy if I bring a kid along.”

“I’m not a child!” Jisung snapped.

“You’re fifteen.”

“And I’ve been Robin for months! I put myself in danger every night!”

“This ain’t-”

“And before that! I grew up in an orphanage in the Bowery for God’s sake. Do you have _any_ idea the kinda creeps that target that sorta place? I’ve been dealing with danger my whole goddamn life. You do _not_ get to bench me for this.”

Jason was silent for a long moment, just looking at him. Then, he laughed and said, “All right, fine. You can come.”

Jisung blinked. “Really?”

“Yeah,” Jason confirmed, “But you have to stay close to me and keep your mouth shut. That part’s non-negotiable. Got it?”

Jisung nodded. “Got it.”

“Good. Now come on. We’ve wasted enough time already.”


	14. Harley Freaking Quinn

Jason led them to Crime Alley, stopping on a roof of a run-down apartment building.

“Fun place,” Jisung commented.

Jason didn’t respond. Instead, he reached up and took off his helmet.

That...was unexpected to say the least. Who could they be talking to that Jason wouldn’t just leave the hood on?

That question answered itself when a door to the interior of the building slammed open and Harley freaking Quinn stormed out and pointed a gun at his head.

“Evening, Harley,” Jason greeted. Was he smiling? Dude, read the room, she’s ready to murder us.

“What the fuck, Hood?” Harley spat.

“Relax,” Jason said, “This ain’t an arrest.”

“Then why’dya bring a fucking Bat?”

“Well, I tried to leave him behind, but it turns out he’s stubborn.” Jason shrugged. “Call it karma.”

Okay, he was way too nonchalant about this. Like, jeez, if Jisung had known him being here would cause this much trouble, he wouldn’t have pushed so hard. It wouldn’t help anyone if he got shot.

Harley narrowed her eyes at Jason for a moment, then let out the single most dramatic sigh Jisung had ever seen and lowered the gun. “Fine. Whaddaya want?”

“We’re looking for Ivy, actually,” Jason explained, “The new Wayne kid’s gone missing, and we’re pretty sure he’s stuck in her old place.”

Harley gave Jason a flat look. “How dumb do you think I am?”

“Uh…” Jason looked just about as confused as Jisung felt. “You are genuinely one of the smartest people I know, and I was telling the truth. Because I respect you.”

“Yeah, well, in case you forgot, the new Wayne kid is standing right next to you. So maybe start telling the actual truth.”

Wait, what? Did Harley think…? No. No way. That was impossible. “Uh...I’m not a Wayne.”

Harley rolled her eyes. “Sure ya aren’t, kid.”

Jisung was about to protest further, but Jason cut in. “Harley, have you seen the news in the past few days?”

Harley opened her mouth to say something, but then she stopped and her eyes went wide. “You don’t mean…” She trailed off and let out a frustrated scream. “It’s the kid whose parents got offed by Mistah J last month, isn’t it?”

“You expected someone else?”

“What the fuck’s he doin’ at Ivy’s place?”

“I can ask him for you when we get him out,” Jason offered. Jisung couldn’t tell if he was being sarcastic or not.

Harley glared at him. “All right, fine. Wait here, I’ll talk to Ivy about it. But if this is a setup, I’m feedin’ you to Bruce and Timmy, got it?”

"Good thing it's not a setup, then,” Jason replied.

Harley let out a huff, turned on her heel, and stomped back into the building.

Once she was out of earshot, Jason said, “In case you were wondering, Bruce and Timmy are her pet hyenas.”

“Does Harley Quinn know who we are?!” Jisung demanded.

Jason shrugged. “She had a thing with Dickiebird a few years back. Probably woulda figured it out sooner or later anyway. I wasn’t kidding when I said she’s one of the smartest people I know.”

“You are way too calm about this.”

“Relax, Twinkle Toes. She ain’t gonna tell anyone.”

“How do you know that, huh?” Jisung snapped. “She’s insane!”

“So am I. Ask anyone.”

“Yeah, but you were dunked in a Lazarus Pit. It’s not the same.”

Jason gave him a flat look. “Harley was systematically abused for years under the guise of romance. And also, at one point, dumped in a vat of toxic chemicals. By her abuser. At least Talia was trying to help me.”

Jisung tried to find an argument to that. He couldn’t. “Okay, fine. But that doesn’t mean we can trust her.”

“How do you know you can trust me?”

“That’s a really annoying argument, you know that?”

Jason smirked. “Why? Cause it outlines the blatant hypocrisy of trusting one half-reformed criminal over another purely because you know one of them better?”

Jisung just glared at him.

“Look, I can vouch for her, okay? Harley has long since earned my trust,” Jason continued, “And if you want a second opinion, ask Nightwing. Or Red Robin for that matter.”

Jisung considered that for a moment. “All right, fine," he relented. "How do you know Poison Ivy’s gonna help us, anyway?”

“Well for one thing, I’d rather not have Bruce fucking Wayne on my case for kidnapping his kid.”

Jisung all but choked when Ivy appeared in the stairwell, looking extremely annoyed.

“Altruistic as ever, I see,” Jason called.

Ivy ignored the comment. “If this is a setup, I’m feeding you to the hyenas.”

“Wouldn’t expect anything less,” Jason said, “Unless Harley beats you to it.”

“Also, if Batman thinks I am in any way responsible for this, no matter what state we find the kid in, I am feeding you to the hyenas,” Ivy continued. Then, she turned her attention to Jisung. “That goes for you too, kid. Am I understood?”

Jisung shivered. “Yes, ma’am.”

“We really appreciate it, Ives,” Jason added.

“Whatever. Let’s just get this over with.”


	15. Penny for your Thoughts

“Penny for your thoughts?”

“Hm?” Renjun had been dozing off, lying near the center of the floor, as far away from any of the plants as he could get. The vines were getting thicker, covering the walls and ceiling. If you watched them long enough, you could see some of them start to squirm, as though they were actually impossibly large snakes. He didn’t dare touch them. He’d heard horror stories about the kinds of things that happened to people who did.

“I mean, what are you thinking about?”

“Oh, you know, just wondering how long it’s going to be before the plants decide to take over the floor too.”

“Oh.” Didi was silent for a moment. “Yeah, I don’t blame you.”

But that wasn’t entirely true, now was it? Something else had been nagging at him for what felt like--and honestly, probably was--hours. He pushed himself up to a seated position and looked over at her. “If you’re really death, then why did you save my life earlier?”

Didi blinked at him. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“Well, I mean, wouldn’t it be more in character to just let me die? Claim another victim?”

Didi pulled her knees up to her chest and looked away from him. “I wouldn’t necessarily call what I do ‘claiming victims.’”

“Then what would you call it?”

“I’m not malicious, Renjun.”

Renjun scoffed. “Yeah. You’re also not Death.”

“Yes I am.”

Renjun could feel his chest tighten. “Okay, let’s say you are. Then why? Why kill so many people--nearly everyone who’s ever lived, and then turn around and save me?”

“I can’t save everyone. Can you imagine what would happen if no one ever died, even as they endured torture, even as their bodies withered and decayed?”

“Then why bother saving anyone?”

Didi huffed. “Well, I guess if you want to be cynical about it, even catching you on that roof this morning wasn’t really _saving_ you, was it? After all, even if we make it out of here, you’re going to die eventually. That’s the thing about death, isn’t it? You wait long enough, everything dies.”

Renjun had no idea what to say to that. Didi kept talking.

“But doesn’t thinking that way just get you down? After all, it’s not like life is meaningless or futile just because it ends someday. Everyone who’s ever lived has had a hand in shaping the world around them. That’s one of the things I like most about life. There’s just so much you can do with it.”

“So, what, you’re saying I should make the most of the time I have?” Renjun couldn’t help the venom in his voice. He’d heard that one before.

“You can do whatever you want with your life,” Didi responded, “But I, for one, would be pretty sad if you decided to cut it short.”

Renjun scoffed. “Why do you care?”

“Because we’re friends.” Didi gave him the sappiest of all possible smiles.

Renjun stared at her, wide-eyed for a moment, then turned away. “Why is it I can never stay mad at you,” he grumbled.

Didi laughed good-naturedly. “I think that means you like me.”

Renjun didn’t respond. He could feel himself blushing.

He didn’t have time to really ponder the implications of that, because all of a sudden, the vines covering the door started writhing. He scrambled to his feet as the vines started to pull away from the door. Beside him, Didi was doing the same, and even though he knew it probably wouldn’t do much good, he put himself between her and the door.

The door opened, and Poison Ivy stood in the doorway, wearing sweatpants and a loose t-shirt, and looking distinctly annoyed.

Renjun did his best to look as defiant as possible. “Took you long enough.”

Poison Ivy rolled her eyes and turned toward someone in the hallway outside. “They’re in here.”

She stepped aside and Robin, the Boy Wonder himself, replaced her in the doorway.

Even with the mask and stiff red suit, Renjun could read the tension in his muscles without even really trying.

As soon as Robin saw them, all that tension evaporated. “Thank God you’re okay.” His voice was quiet and tinged with a distinctly Low Gotham cadence, both of which surprised Renjun. He’d always assumed Robin was some rich kid playing hero. And even if he wasn’t, Robin was supposed to be loud, friendly, and energetic. Tense and quiet was pretty much the opposite of that.

“Uh...yeah. How…?” There were so many thoughts whirling around in Renjun’s brain, he couldn’t even begin to extract one.

Robin apparently interpreted that non-question as _how did you find us?_ “We tracked your cell phone,” he explained, “The signal cut out here and, well, here was covered in plants, and…”

“And you got Poison Ivy, the supervillain, to let us out?” Renjun asked skeptically.

Behind Robin, Ivy crossed her arms. “Don’t act so surprised, kid. You think I _want_ to be blamed for a pair of missing teenagers?”

“I dunno. You are crazy,” Renjun snapped. He regretted the words the moment they left his mouth. Robin’s mouth dropped open in shock, and Poison Ivy narrowed her eyes at him. He got the feeling she was about to make him regret that even more.

Then, a new voice, distorted by some sort of voice modulator, started laughing out in the hallway. “Jesus Christ, kid,” the voice said, “At least try not to get yourself killed.”

Renjun shivered. He had a feeling he knew who that was, and while it did make a few pieces fall into place, he really didn’t want him to be here.

He all but jumped out of his skin when Didi put an arm around his shoulders and said, in the sweetest voice he’d ever heard from her, “I’m really sorry about him, Ms. Ivy. He’s had a rough day.”

“You can say that again,” Renjun grumbled.

Ivy regarded them for a moment, then said, “Whatever. Just get out of here.”

“Thank you, ma’am. We’ll do that,” Didi replied. And then Renjun let her lead him past the small group of masks in the hallway, and out the door.


	16. Debrief

Renjun felt a wave of relief wash over him when they stepped out of the building and he could see the night sky again. This was officially his least favorite place in Gotham. Not that that was saying much.

As they left, Renjun could feel Robin following close behind, like an anxious puppy. Once they were out, he stopped and turned to face the Boy Wonder. “Since when do you work with a crime lord and an ecoterrorist?”

Robin looked taken aback. After a moment’s hesitation, he said, “Uh...since today.”

“Why?”

Robin stared at them, unmoving. Under the mask, Renjun imagined he was blinking owlishly at him. Or in full-on panic mode. Honestly, it was a toss-up.

Behind them, that mechanical laugh sounded again, and Renjun turned to see the Red Hood strolling up to them and dear God he was massive. He had to be at least six feet tall, but more than that, it looked like he was made entirely of solid muscle. Combine that with the faceless red helmet and the distorted voice, it was a recipe for pure intimidation.

“You should watch what you say about people,” Hood said, “Especially when they’re in earshot. Not everyone’s going to be as nice as ol’ Ives was back there.”

“Uh… yeah, sure,” Renjun said.

“We really do appreciate you all getting us out of there,” Didi added.

“See? Now that’s how you talk to someone who just saved your life.” Hood turned to Didi. “It’s all in a day’s work, ma’am. Though, if you wouldn’t mind, I for one, would love to know how you got in there in the first place.

Didi’s face fell. “It was my fault,” she said.

“No it wasn’t,” Renjun countered, “It was Theo who got us into that, not you.”

“I still went with him.”

“Yeah, but he didn’t _need_ to lead us into a death trap, now did he?”

“I guess not,” Didi conceded, smiling a little.

“Okay, back up. Who’s Theo?” Renjun might have been imagining the exasperation in the Red Hood’s voice. It was hard to tell through the synthesizer.

“Jerk who goes to my school,” Renjun said, “He has a bit of a reputation.”

“Okaaaay. And he brought you to Ivy’s place?” Hood asked. If nothing else, he sounded tired.

“Pretty much,” he confirmed.

“And then locked you in?”

“Uh…” Renjun glanced at Didi.

“He was working for someone else,” she said, “He calls himself the Eremite. He was looking for me.”

“The Eremite?” Robin asked.

Didi nodded. “Have you heard of him?”

He shook his head. So this was a brand new Gotham bad guy. Wonderful.

“Do you have any idea why he would target you?”

Didi looked decidedly uncomfortable. She didn’t answer and, further, seemed to be avoiding looking at the Hood.

After a moment of silence, Hood reached up and fiddled with something in his helmet. When he spoke again, his voice was somewhat muffled by the helmet, but it was distinctly human. “Hey, it’s okay,” he said, “You’re not in trouble. I just want to know what this guy’s deal is. Anything you can tell us helps us catch him.”

Didi regarded him for a moment, then looked away. “He thinks I’m Death,” she said.

The Red Hood froze. Renjun couldn’t help but feel like that caught him off guard in a major way. He couldn’t say he was that surprised.

“Do you have any idea why he would think that?” Robin piped up.

Didi shrugged. “I don’t know how he would’ve figured it out,” she said, “I’m not sure it really matters either. But…” she trailed off, seemingly unsure of herself. “He took my ankh. That’s important, I know it is.”

“O...kay?” Robin said. He was clearly confused. Not that Renjun could blame him. Honestly, the fact that this stuff was starting to make sense to him was pretty concerning.

Credit where credit was due, though. Robin knew how to take weird stuff in stride, because instead of pressing her further, he turned to the Red Hood and asked, “You all right, Hood?”

“Hm?” Hood turned sharply toward Robin, as if being pulled out of his thoughts. “Yeah, fine.” Then, he turned back to Didi. “Are you sure about that? This Eremite guy thought you were death?”

She nodded.

“Why?” Renjun asked, “That mean anything to you?”

“You’re pretty nosey, kid, ya know that?”

Renjun bristled at the remark. “Why wouldn’t I be? In case you forgot, we’re talking about the man who almost killed us.”

Hood sighed audibly. “Yeah. We’ll look into it. You can count on that. This guy sounds like he could be trouble.”

Renjun scoffed. “Yeah, no kidding. Now if you wouldn’t mind, what exactly are you doing here?”

“Saving your ass, what did it look like?”

Renjun glared at him.

“Jeez kid, fine. I got a friend down in the Narrows said he ran into a couple kids who didn’t seem to have the best self-preservation instincts. Asked me to keep an eye on you. I owed him a favor, so I agreed.”

“Wait. You’re friends with that Peter guy?”

“Don’t sound so surprised,” Hood said flatly, “Anyway, ran into the kid on route, and when you two up and vanished, I helped him track you down.”

“Okay…” He turned to Robin. “So, what? You just decided to tag along?”

Now it was Robin’s turn to look uncomfortable. “Actually… I was already tailing you,” he said softly.

“Oh yeah, let me guess, you’re friends with Jisung or something,” Renjun spat.

“Well…” Oh. Okay, now _that_ had some fun implications. He’d need to ask Jisung about that next time he saw him.

“I mean, we knew he had a way of contacting them, right?” Didi said.

Renjun sighed. “I guess. And Ivy? What was she doing there?”

“Kidnapping kids ain’t exactly her M.O.” Red Hood shrugged. “Figured she wouldn’t want anyone thinking this was her fault. Oh speaking of which, we’d appreciate it if the Waynes knew she wasn’t involved.”

“And you care because?”

“Wow, let’s see.” Hood started ticking reasons off on his fingers. “She genuinely didn’t have anything to do with this, framing her for a crime she didn’t commit is kinda shitty…. Oh, and she threatened to kill the kid if she gets blamed for this, so there’s that.”

“Also, blaming her would kinda take attention away from the _actual_ bad guy,” Robin added.

“Okay, okay, I get it,” Renjun said, holding up his hands in a gesture of surrender. “Wasn’t planning on throwing her under the bus anyway but whatever.”

“Way you run your mouth, I wanted to make sure,” Hood said. Before Renjun had a chance to protest, he turned to Robin. “You got it from here, kid?”

Robin nodded.

“Wonderful,” Hood said. Now he _definitely_ sounded tired. Turning back to Renjun and Didi, he added, “You two try to stay out of trouble for a while. I don’t want to do this again.” And with that, he was gone.

The three of them stood in silence for a moment.

Didi broke the silence by yawning. “What time is it?” she asked.

“Uh…” Renjun dug his phone out of his pocket and looked at it. “5 am. Jeez, were we in there for that long?”

Didi shrugged. “Takes time to organize a rescue.”

“I guess.” He turned to Robin. “Do you have anything else for us?”

“If you wouldn’t mind, we could use a description of that Eremite guy.”

Didi nodded and began describing what he looked like. She then gave a brief rundown of what had happened since they’d met him in that room.

“Thanks,” Robin said, when she was done. “We’ll find him, I promise.” And then, he was gone too.

“Okay,” Renjun said after a moment, “I am officially done with superheroes.”

Didi laughed. “They are pretty dramatic, aren’t they?”

“That’s one way of putting it,” he grumbled.

“Come on.” She took his arm and started leading him down the street. “Let’s go get breakfast.”


	17. Doing Life

Renjun and Didi wound up wandering around for nearly an hour looking for an open restaurant. Ultimately, Renjun pulled Didi to a stop and looked up breakfast places in the area. They picked one that opened at 6 and started walking. They got there right as the owner, a man in his mid forties, was unlocking the door.

“You two are up early,” the owner commented.

“We didn’t really get to sleep,” Didi said, “It’s been a long night.”

“You two’ve been busy, huh?” he asked with a wink.

“You could say that,” Didi said.

The owner laughed. “Sure, sure. Anyway, pick a table. I’ll be with you in a minute.”

They did just that. A moment later, he brought them menus, and a few minutes after that, they had coffee and an all-American breakfast was officially on the way.

“Well, if there’s one good thing about today,” Renjun commented, “It’s that I’ve learned I really need to pay more attention to the Gotham restaurant scene.”

“Is that so?” Didi asked.

“Yeah. Like, this coffee for instance. I dunno if it’s just the caffeine being a decently good thing after the shitshow of a night we’ve had, but this is hella good. And I am not a coffee drinker.”

Didi gave him a tired smile and took a drink of her own coffee. “Oh wow, this is good.”

“Right? Like, this has to be witchcraft or something.”

“Nah,” she said, “Witchcraft is way more visceral. There’s, like, entrails and stuff.”

“You’d know, wouldn’t you,” Renjun teased.

“What makes you think I wouldn’t?”

“Fair enough,” he said.

By the time their food was ready, they were both on their second cups of coffee. They didn’t talk much in that time. Renjun watched through the window as the sun rose, painting the sky in shades of pink and orange. It struck him that there had been a really good chance of him not living to see this sunrise, much less in such a pleasant manner. He wasn’t entirely sure what to think about that. But for right now, at least, he found himself strangely content.

The food was better than the coffee. Bacon and eggs had never tasted so good.

As usual, Didi was the one to start talking. “Okay, so this is probably the best thing I’ve ever eaten.”

“That’s a pretty strong assertion,” Renjun said.

“Would you disagree?”

He thought for a moment. “Nah,” he said, “Ask me again in a few hours, though, I might change my mind.”

“Is that so?”

“I mean, this is great and all, but it’s no congee.”

“Oh? So you’re a connoisseur of breakfast food, are you?”

“What if I am?”

Didi shrugged. “Then I suppose I’ll just have to learn from the master.”

“Guess so,” Renjun said.

“I still think this is pretty amazing, though,” Didi continued, “I swear, every time I do this, I find something new to love.”

“This?”

“Life.”

“Uh-huh. And how many times have you ‘done life’ exactly?”

“Oh, I lost count a long time ago.”

“Okay, sure. I’ll indulge you. So, what, you just decide to try living every once in a while? Change it up?”

“Oh, no, it’s far more formal than that,” Didi started, “See, once every century-”

“How were you freed?” The voice that interrupted her sent a shiver down Renjun’s spine. He looked up to see the man with no eyes-- the Eremite-- looming over them.

Didi looked up at him briefly, then went back to her breakfast. “We walked out.”

“You were powerless,” the Eremite protested, “I have your ankh!” Sure enough, he was clutching Didi’s necklace tightly, like his life depended on it.

Now Didi looked up at him, “Can I have it back?” Okay, she was _way_ too calm about this.

He pulled the ankh away from her. “Oh no. I have your sigil of power. I have your ankh. With it, I will unlock all secrets of life and death.”

Didi rolled her eyes and turned back to her breakfast. “You don’t have me.”

“You will not escape me!”

“Oh, I’m sure we’ll meet again, eventually.” That smile of hers was back. The one that contained multitudes. Renjun wasn’t entirely sure how to feel about it coming out in the context of mocking the insane no-eyes guy who had, mere hours ago, lured them to their supposed death.

“Oh my god, can you not just let them eat in peace?” Looking past the Eremite, Renjun saw that somehow, without making a sound, Robin had entered the restaurant. Who knew when he got there. Was he following them?

“I am the Eremite. Mine is the glory. Mine is righteousness,” the Eremite responded.

Robin had a look on his face that was pure stunned disbelief. “Sure, buddy. Whaddya say you and I go outside and have a little talk. Let these two finish their breakfast in peace.”

“But she is _Death_. Her touch is death. Her flesh is corruption and her eyes breed maggots.”

“Okay,” Robin said, “One, gross. Two, _no_. And three, I have been up way too long to care about whatever nonsense vendetta you have against this woman so let’s just take this outside.”

As he finished speaking, Robin advanced on the Eremite, took him by the arm, and started leading him toward the door. Surprisingly, the Eremite put up very little resistance, instead continuing to spout insane ramblings as Robin led him out the door.

“Do your eyes really breed maggots?” Renjun asked.

“Not usually,” Didi said.

“Cool.”

“Jeez, I’m sorry about that,” the owner said, coming over to them. “We don’t usually get those sorts of crazies in here.”

“Really?” Renjun asked.

The owner laughed jovially, “Well, not this early at least.” Then, he got serious. “That guy targeting you kids or something?”

“Uh….” Renjun glanced at Didi, unsure how to answer.

“We had a run-in with him last night,” she said.

“I see.” The owner nodded gravely. “Listen, how about you kids head out the back way. Looked like Robin had him, but I’ve been around long enough to know that shit could go sideways real fast.”

“Oh, uh, thanks,” Renjun said. They both stood up and Renjun fished his wallet out of his pocket. He was pretty sure he had enough in there to pay cash.

“Hey, don’t worry about payment,” the owner said, “You kids look like you’ve been to hell and back. And dealing with a guy like that?” He gestured out the window to where the Eremite was still ranting at Robin. ”It’s the least I could do.”

Renjun considered that, then said, “No, I insist. This was amazing and you deserve it.” Besides, he’d just been adopted by a billionaire. He couldn’t just _not_ pay.

The owner laughed again. “All right, all right. How about we settle the check in the back, then?”

He led them into the kitchen and over to the back door, grabbed a notepad and pen from a little nook that looked kind of like a makeshift office, and started scribbling. A moment later, he told Renjun they owed him $20.

Renjun had $30 in cash. He gave him all of it, told him not to worry about change, and then followed Didi out the back door.

“That was nice of you,” she said as they walked down the alley.

Renjun shrugged. “It was the least I could do. The food really was amazing. Besides, I’m pretty sure he undercharged me.”

She laughed, and they made their way out of the alley and down the street.


	18. Pancakes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Content Warning:** This chapter deals with the death of Jason Todd, from the perspective of Jason Todd. Violence is briefly discussed, but not depicted.

Jason Todd had been holed up in one of his safe houses for nearly four hours. He’d gone straight there after he left the kids with Robin and thrown himself into researching this Eremite guy. Anything to keep him from his thoughts.

Two hours in, it turned out the research had been pointless. The Eremite showed up to threaten them in broad daylight and Robin intervened. The idiot didn’t even put up a fight when Robin hauled him away from Renjun and Didi, called the police, waited for them on the sidewalk, and tucked him safely into a cop car. Apparently, the worst he had done was spew nonsense ravings that Jisung bluntly described as “the craziest possible shit.” After that, Jason was left alone with his thoughts and nothing to distract him.

_Come now, Bird Boy. You’re not going to sleep on me already, are you?_

Jason groaned and took a long drag on his cigarette. It was going to be one hell of a day.

He jumped when someone knocked on the kitchen window. He turned to see Kyle, in full Green Lantern apparel, waving at him. Jason sighed and hauled himself to his feet and into the kitchen. He opened the window.

“Does Batman know there’s a Lantern on the loose in Gotham?” he asked.

“Probably not,” Kyle said, “You gonna let me in?”

“Depends. You gonna complain about the smoke?”

Kyle eyed the cigarette Jason was holding. “I’ll try to keep it to myself.”

“How considerate of you,” Jason drawled. But, he stepped away from the window and let Kyle climb inside.

“I’m a regular saint,” Kyle said. He disengaged the power ring, allowing the suit to be replaced by the flannel shirt and jeans he’d been wearing the previous day. “You find the kids?”

“Yep. They were at Ivy’s place.”

“As in Poison Ivy?” Kyle asked, alarmed.

“Yep.”

“Jeez. How the hell did they end up there?”

Jason shrugged and took a drag on the cigarette. “Some idiot decided to use her place as a trap. Was pretty effective too. No idea what woulda happened if we hadn’t already been tracking them.”

“Some idiot?”

“Yep. Calls himself the Eremite. Real piece of work.”

“Is he still out there?”

“Nah.” Jason shook his head. “See, that’s the best part. We get the kids out, they go to this diner like five blocks away, and the idiot sees them, strolls on in, and demands to know what they’re doing there.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah. Robin was watching them, obviously, and he put a stop to it. Idiot didn’t even put up a fight.”

Kyle raised an eyebrow. “Any chance that’s part of a scheme? Like he needed to be in jail or something?”

Jason took another drag on the cigarette and let out a long breath of smoke before responding. “I doubt it. Doesn’t seem like his deal.”

“How do you figure?” Kyle asked.

_He thinks I’m death._

Jason sighed. Leave it to Kyle to show up, provide a merciful distraction from his thoughts, and then plunge him straight back into them.

“This Eremite guy…. he wasn’t exactly subtle about his plans. Apparently, he’s trying to control Death, and he got it in his head that he needed Didi’s ankh to do it.”

“Oh.” Kyle said, “Do you believe him?”

_We met once, but you probably don’t remember me._

Nope. He was not having this conversation right now. Time for a redirect. “You had breakfast yet?”

Kyle fixed him with a flat look. “Jaaaay.” He drew the word out to make absolutely sure that Jason knew damn well that that was a weak-ass diversion.

Jason was nothing if not stubborn, though, and he was _not_ going to talk about it right now, so he walked over to his pantry, pulled it open, and started rummaging around. “I think I have everything I need to make pancakes. You want pancakes?” he asked without turning around.

Kyle didn’t answer for a while. Then, he said, “You know what, sure. I’d love pancakes.”

“Cool.” Jason started pulling out ingredients and got set up. Kyle watched him do it, leaning against the small island that separated the kitchen from the living area.

“So how’d things go with your kid?” Jason asked while he worked, “What was his name?”

“Tai. It went fine, all things considered. It was just the one Red Lantern. If there’d been more, we might’ve had trouble.”

“Wonderful,” Jason said. He started mixing ingredients together. He was pretty sure there were blueberries in the freezer. Wouldn’t be as good as fresh, but they would be tasty.

Kyle kept talking for awhile, about the fight, recent Green Lantern drama, the gallery show from yesterday, and just about anything that wasn’t Renjun and Didi. Jason listened, interjecting with a comment here and there. This was how things went with Kyle a lot of the time, but he didn’t mind. It was nice having a friend who could take a hint and avoid a sensitive topic.

“So do you think Didi _is_ death, or she just had her stuff?”

Nevermind.

“I don’t really want to talk about it,” Jason said. He knew full well that that wasn’t going to work, given that Kyle had dutifully stayed off the subject for so long, but again, stubborn.

“Okay,” Kyle said, “Kinda getting the impression you need to talk about it though.”

“I don’t _need_ to do anything.”

“Is it about Ethiopia?”

_Sorry, kiddo. I know how hard you fought to get out of there._

Jason froze. Then he deflated. “Yeah,” he admitted. He didn’t say anything else for a while. Kyle didn’t force him. He just watched as Jason finished the pancakes he was working on, slid them onto a plate, and turned off the stove.

“You know I don’t actually remember dying, right?”

“Uh…. I mean, you’ve never really talked about it.”

“Shocker.” Jason moved past Kyle into the living room and grabbed the cigarette box. He lit another one, sat down on the sofa and said, “I mean, I remember the stuff leading up to it, but actually dying? The explosion? Nothing. The memories cut out right before it happened.”

“I mean, that’s good, right?” Kyle pushed himself off the island and went to sit next to Jason.

“It was.” Jason took a deep breath. “Earlier, when we got them out of Ivy’s place, I asked Didi what happened. She said the Eremite was after her because he thought she was Death.” He took a drag of his cigarette. “And… I dunno, man, it brought something back.”

Kyle didn’t say anything. Didn’t move. That was the other great thing about Kyle. If you were saying something important, he waited for you to finish.

So, that’s what Jason did. “I… she was there. It was like, the bomb went off, and then all of a sudden, nothing hurt anymore, and I was standing in the rubble and there was this woman.”

_Wow. This place is a_ mess _!_

“She was just standing there, smiling at me. I asked her what she was doing there and…”

_I have a job to do. Sorry, kiddo. I know how hard you fought to get out of there._

“All of a sudden, I just knew who she was. Strange thing is, once I figured it out, I wasn’t thinking about me. I just wanted to know if my mom was okay.”

_You can’t take her. You can’t!_

_Hm? Oh, her? Don’t worry. She’s got a bit longer before she meets me._

_You’re not just lying to make me feel better are you?_

_Nah. In my experience, that never works out. You end up feeling horrible about it for ages._

“I found out later that she died in the explosion too. I guess it just took longer for her than me. I don’t know if she knew that.”

_So this is it for me, then?_

_‘Fraid so._

_That kinda sucks. But... I guess I had a pretty kick-ass life._

_Oh, I’ll bet. I’ve heard the stories._

_So what now?_

_You wanna find out?_

“But at the time, that was that. She took my hand, and everything just… stopped.” Until, of course, he woke up in a coffin. But that wasn’t Death’s fault.

Kyle was silent for a really long time.

“See, this is why I didn’t want to talk about it.”

“She looked like Didi?”

“No, she looked like Queen Elizabeth,” Jason deadpanned.

“Wow.” And then he was silent again. Jason couldn’t exactly blame him. It was a lot to take in.

“I’m gonna finish those pancakes.” Jason stood up and went back to the kitchen. He hated to admit it, but telling Kyle did make him feel a bit better. It was like facing up to it. It unmuddled things a bit.

“You know,” he said, “I still don’t think it was the dying that really hurt. Especially now. It was waking up after.”

“Yeah,” Kyle said, absently. Jason wondered if he was thinking about Alex. Or Donna. Probably both, he thought.

Jason finished cooking the pancakes. He split them onto two plates, ran a couple forks under the tap to get rid of the dust, and brought a plate to Kyle. “I don’t have syrup or anything, so you’ll just have to eat them plain.”

“Do you think Renjun’s going to be okay?” Kyle asked.

“What, because he’s on a date with Death?”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah, he’ll be fine.”

“But if she’s _Death_ ….”

Jason sighed. “Okay, listen to this: ‘One day in every century, death takes on mortal flesh, better to comprehend what the lives she takes must feel like, to taste the bitter tang of mortality. And this is the price she must pay for being the divider of the living from all that has gone before, and all that must come after.’”

“What was that?”

“What, did you think I was just brooding the whole morning? I did research. Now take the pancakes. My arm’s getting tired.”

Kyle took the pancakes.

“You think that’s what she’s doing now?” he asked, “Taking mortal flesh or whatever?”

“Can you think of another reason she’d just casually be walking around Gotham? Besides, she saved Renjun’s life yesterday. I don’t think Death as Death would do that.”

“Yeah, guess not. But still. That’s gotta be the worst luck.”

Jason shrugged. “I dunno. I’m pretty sure Dick’s dated weirder.”

“Sure.” Kyle took a bite of pancake. “One day every century, huh?”

“That’s what it said,” Jason confirmed.

“So then… what happens when that day ends?”


	19. End of the Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content Warning: Remember that warning about major character death? This is the chapter where that happens.

Renjun and Didi walked for a while before stumbling on a street market.

“This looks exciting,” Didi said.

“You want to check it out?” Renjun asked.

She nodded, and they did. Didi stopped at a table that was covered in silver jewellery.

“These are beautiful,” she said.

She picked up an ankh and watched as it glittered in the sunlight.

“How much for this one?” she asked the man running the stall.

He studied her for a moment, then said, “For you? Ten bucks.”

She nodded, paid the man, and walked on, hanging the ankh around her neck as she did so.

Renjun hurried to catch up with her.

“Can you just replace it like that?” he asked.

“Sure,” she said, “Why wouldn’t I?”

“I dunno.” Renjun shrugged. “Didn’t the Eremite say your ankh was what gave you power?”

“Do you believe everything you hear?” Didi asked.

“I mean, I don’t think I really believe any of that stuff. But you believe it, right?”

“Well, when you put it that way…” Didi smirked. “The ankh is a symbol of life, and symbols have power.”

“It doesn’t have to be a specific ankh, huh?”

“Now you’re getting it.”

“Yeah, now _that’s_ what worries me.”

“Why?”

“Well, I mean, it kinda feels like encouraging you.”

“Is that a bad thing?”

Renjun thought about it. Then he shrugged. “I guess not.”

They wandered through the market for a while, admiring the various goods for sale. Then, Didi asked, “Hey, do you want to go to the park?”

“Really?” Renjun looked at her in disbelief. “After the night we’ve had?”

“Yeah, why not?”

Renjun was about to protest, he really was. They had just spent hours locked in a room with killer plants for crying out loud. But then again, it was pretty unlikely that the park would have anything beyond ordinary grass and trees, and it did sound nice. “Okay, sure. Why not?”

The park was beautiful. Everything he could have asked for on a Sunday morning in April with a pretty girl. Walking through the trees, he almost felt normal.

They sat down on the edge of a fountain. Renjun really wanted to flip open his sketchbook and start drawing. He would have, too, except he had a horrifying realization.

“I left my sketchbook at Ivy’s place.”

Didi stopped admiring the trees and turned to look at him. “Do you want to go back for it?”

The thought made him shudder. “Absolutely not,” he said, “In fact, I’m pretty sure that’s the last thing I want.”

“You sure? It’d be a shame to lose all your drawings. They were good.”

“They were just sketches. I can draw more.” He would miss a few of them. The trees he’d drawn the previous evening sprang to mind, along with a few pictures of Jeno and Jaemin. And with that thought, all of a sudden, he kind of wanted to call them. But…. he didn’t exactly think they’d want to talk to him. And even if they did, he had no idea what to say.

“What are you thinking about?” Didi asked.

“Hm? Oh, just some old friends.”

“Like Kyle?”

“Nah, they were… different.” Renjun sighed. “I dunno. It’s complicated.”

Didi hummed in acknowledgement. “All right.”

They sat for a moment in silence.

“Renjun?”

“Yeah?”

“I had a good time today.”

Renjun cast her a sidelong glance. “Okay, that has got to be the craziest thing you’ve said all day.”

Didi laughed. “I mean, sure there were bad parts, but it’s not like that’s all that happened. There were good parts too.”

“Yeah? Like what?”

“Oh, you know.” She started ticking things off on her fingers, “Talking to Peter about books, going to the art gallery, walking around with you. That’s most of what we did today, you know? Walk around. It was nice.”

Renjun thought about that for a moment. Let the words sink in. He smiled slightly. “Yeah, it was, huh?”

She smiled back in that way that made her entire face light up. It made him feel like he wanted to see that smile for the rest of his life.

“I had a lovely time today,” she repeated, “Thank you.” Then, she kissed him on the cheek.

Renjun could feel his face burning as she pulled away. This was way more than he asked for. But still, he had meant what he said. He liked hanging out with her. For all the shit the day had thrown at them, she had been there, and the entire time she’d been fun and optimistic and a little bit snarky and in that moment he realized he loved all of it.

“We could do it again sometime,” he blurted out, “You know, if you want. Except, maybe next time without all the danger.”

Didi didn’t respond.

He turned to look at her and saw that she was standing on the edge of the fountain, arms outstretched, looking up at the sky. In that moment, he was sure she was the most beautiful person he’d ever met.

Then, suddenly, she doubled over in pain.

“Didi?!” He scrambled to his feet and up onto the edge of the fountain and wrapped an arm around her back. “Didi, what’s wrong?”

She didn’t respond.

Then, just as suddenly, she went still and slumped, lifeless, into his arms.


	20. Numb

Renjun felt numb. After Didi’s… well… he called for an ambulance. She was gone long before they got there, and he’d known that perfectly well, even if he had tried resuscitating her for the better part of an hour. When the paramedics finally showed up, they pulled him off her and set to work attempting to do it themselves. It hadn’t worked.

As an unintended consequence, they had taken one look at him, moved him to the ambulance, and started treating the approximately five trillion bruises, cuts, and scrapes he had accumulated over the course of the day and then carted him off to the hospital for a proper exam.

So, bright side, part of why he was numb was the painkillers, which were much, _much_ more effective than the ones Peter had given him the previous day. Mostly, though? He couldn’t even bring himself to cry.

He hated this city. With every fiber of his being. It had taken everything from him, and just when he thought it would finally give him something in return, it went and took that away too. If the paramedics hadn’t stuck him in a hospital room and called the manor, he might have been right back where he was the previous afternoon.

“Wow, you look like shit.”

Renjun looked up to see Jisung standing in the doorway.

“Bruce couldn’t be bothered, huh?” he said bitterly.

Jisung gave him a blank look. “Pretty sure Bruce is in New York right now.”

“Figures.” Renjun turned away from him. His rich boy “brother” was the last thing he wanted to deal with right now.

Unfortunately, Jisung seemed to have other ideas. He came inside and sat down next to the bed. “I talked to the doctor. He said you’re good to leave as long as you have someone with you.”

Renjun scoffed and turned back to look at him. “What? Don’t they trust me?”

Jisung shrugged. “It’s probably just a precaution.”

“Well maybe I want to be alone right now.”

“Tough,” Jisung said simply.

Renjun glowered at him.

Jisung held his gaze. He was, Renjun was realizing, annoyingly hard to intimidate.

“This is the part where you leave,” Renjun said.

“So you can sulk?” Jisung scoffed. “Not happening.”

“I’m not sulking!” Renjun snapped.

Jisung didn’t say anything, but the look on his face made it pretty obvious he didn’t believe him.

“Okay, fine,” Renjun said, “But I have the right to sulk, don’t I?”

“Sure,” Jisung responded, “And I have the right to sit here and watch you do it.”

“Why do you care so much, anyway?” They may have been adopted by the same eccentric billionaire, but they sure as hell weren’t family. They didn’t even know each other. Renjun was just another stranger to Jisung. A roommate. That was how he’d acted for the past few days, so why the hell didn’t he have the decency to act like that now.

Jisung didn’t answer for a moment. Then, he said, “Renjun, you disappeared for 24 hours, barely talked to anyone in that time, and then showed up in the middle of the city looking like you’ve been run over by a bus.”

“So?”

“So,” Jisung said slowly, “We have to look out for each other.”

“You’re not my brother,” Renjun spat.

Jisung looked at him like he’d grown a second head. “I never said I was.”

“Then why do you care?”

“Maybe I don’t need a reason.”

“That doesn’t make sense.”

Now it was Jisung’s turn to glare. “Whaddaya want, some heartfelt speech about how all life is precious or something?” he snapped.

Renjun didn’t have a response to that. He’d been expecting Jisung to get mad and storm out. That’s what Renjun would have done, given the options. But, while he definitely seemed mad, he just sat there, simmering.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Jisung muttered when Renjun hadn’t said anything for a while.

Renjun huffed. “Whatever. Do what you want.”

Jisung rolled his eyes. “Anyway, I needed to give you this.” He pulled something out of his bag and dropped it on the bed.

Renjun stared at it in disbelief. It was his sketchbook. “Where did you get this?”

“Robin gave it to me.”

“Okay….” Renjun picked it up and examined it. The cover was a little damp but it wasn’t horribly damaged. He’d have to lay it out in the sun when he got home.

Home. The Manor. He still didn’t want to go back there. It….

His train of thought crashed into another one and he seized on it instead. “How do you know Robin anyway?”

Jisung gave a noncommittal shrug.

“That’s not an answer.”

Jisung sighed. “Anything I say could give away something about his secret identity. Sorry, Renjun, but I don’t know you _that_ well.”

“So you know his secret identity?”

Jisung froze and Renjun could feel himself smirk. So there _was_ a way to push his buttons.

“Maybe…” he said tentatively.

“All right, let’s see if I can figure it out, then.”

“Please don’t.”

“Let’s see… what do I know about Robin...?”

“Renjun, I’m serious, he has a secret identity for a reason.”

Was that panic in his voice? Interesting. “Okay, well, for one, he’s young. Definitely not the same guy as the original.”

“That’s not news. Everyone knows that.”

Renjun waved him off. “He’s probably about your age, come to think of it. Friends from school, maybe? But… no, that couldn’t be it.”

Jisung’s panic turned to disbelief. “Why not?”

“Well, I mean, I talked to him earlier. He’s from Lower Gotham and you’re… well…”

Jisung stared at him, open-mouthed. Then, he chuckled. “Jeez, is the accent that convincing?”

“What acc-” Renjun stopped. Just then, Jisung’s voice had taken on a distinctly Low Gotham cadence. Thinking about it, it had done that earlier too, when Jisung had snapped at him. “Wait, you don’t mean…”

“What, didya think I was Bruce’s bio kid or something? I grew up in the Bowery.”

“Well, I…. I guess I didn’t really think about it.”

“Clearly.”

“I’m sorry, that was hella rude.”

Jisung shrugged. “Trust me, it’s way better than I get at most galas.”

“Why do you hide your accent?”

“You’d be surprised how many rich people think growing up in the Bowery is the same as growing up on the streets in Crime Alley. Not to mention how many of them think speaking anything other than standard English is a crime against decency.”

“It can’t possibly be that bad.”

“You think?” Jisung asked, “Talk to me again after you’ve had an old white guy spend half an hour lecturing you about how using the word ‘ain’t’ slowly chips away at your dignity in the eyes of others, to the point where no one trusts you and you can’t get a job if your life depended on it.”

“That has to be an exaggeration.”

“Nope. That actually happened. It was mind-numbing.”

Renjun groaned. “Maybe I should’ve pushed harder for emancipation.”

Jisung shrugged. “If it makes you feel any better, it probably won’t be quite as bad for you, since you started out middle class. And you paint. That’s classy.”

“That is so stupid and arbitrary,” Renjun grumbled.

“Painting?”

“No, the fact that painting is seen as inherently better tha- That was sarcasm, wasn’t it?”

Jisung smirked. “Hey, if you want to rant about elitism, don’t let me stop you.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“No problem.”

Renjun glared at him. Jisung looked like he was doing everything he could to keep himself from laughing. Renjun huffed and turned away from him, looking out the window instead.

It was a nice day again. Blue sky, breeze barely rustling the trees outside. He found himself thinking about the view from that rooftop. How, looking at Gotham from above, it was weirdly beautiful. He wanted to paint that view. No heroes, no villains, just a film noir cityscape that stretched for miles.

He’d need a reference. There was no way he could paint that view from memory.

He’d need to bring Jisung with him if he wanted to get a reference. Would Jisung be okay with that?

Would _he_ be okay with that?

He wasn’t sure. But it was better than sitting here doing nothing and letting his thoughts run rampant in his head.

He turned back to Jisung. “Do you wanna go do something stupid?”


	21. Not So Godforsaken

Jisung had been surprisingly on board with breaking into a random office building. That worked out just fine for Renjun, though. Additionally, the hospital was actually pretty close to the building they were aiming for, so it was a quick walk.

Unfortunately, that was where their luck began and ended, because when Renjun tried opening the door to get into the building, the knob wouldn’t turn.

“It’s locked,” he said.

“You expected something else?” Jisung asked.

“It was unlocked yesterday.”

“So? Someone probably forgot. That sort of thing happens."

Renjun huffed. Jisung was right, of course, but that didn’t make this any less frustrating, to get this far only to be thwarted by a locked door.

Behind him, Jisung sighed. “Okay, move over.”

Renjun stepped aside and eyed Jisung. “What are you going to do, break it down?”

Jisung looked at him like he’d grown a second head. Instead of responding, he pulled a couple paperclips out of his pocket, bent them out of shape, and knelt in front of the doorknob.

A minute later, there was a soft click and the door opened.

Jisung stood and gestured for Renjun to enter. “After you.”

Renjun stared at Jisung in utter disbelief. “Wait. Wait, wait, wait. You know how to pick locks?”

Jisung shrugged. “Yeah, I learned a few years ago. It comes in handy.”

“You do this a lot?”

“Not really.”

“Then how-”

“Do you want to get into the building or not?”

“It was more useful when I was a kid,” Jisung said after a while.

“What?”

“Picking locks. My old group home kept the front door locked at all times. If you forgot your key, you either had to wait and hope someone let you in, or you found an alternative.”

“That sounds awful,” Renjun replied. He paused on the steps and turned to face the boy.

Jisung shrugged. “Most kids weren’t around long enough to really care. Those of us who were learned to deal with it.” He kept walking, and Renjun fell into step next to him.

“How long were you there?”

“About 13 years.”

Renjun didn’t even bother to hide his shock. “Aren’t you fifteen?”

“Yep.”

When Renjun continued to stare in shock, Jisung sighed and continued, “My parents died in a car wreck when I was a baby. I survived, obviously, but I either didn’t have any other relatives, or my parents didn’t bother keeping in touch, so I was sent to Mellisandra’s. Most kids who show up that young get adopted or put in foster care, but sometimes you just slip through the cracks.”

“Jeez,” Renjun said.

Jisung shrugged. “It wasn’t that bad. It wasn’t exactly well-funded, but the staff genuinely cared about us. I still go back there to help out, when I can.”

“But still. That…. And here I was thinking you were some spoiled rich kid.”

“I mean, I dunno if you noticed, but I do live in a mansion now.”

Renjun couldn't help but laugh at that. “I guess.”

They stepped out onto the roof. The wind was stronger up here, but it wasn’t terrible. Renjun found himself flashing back to the previous day-- standing on the edge, looking out at the city. If Didi hadn’t been there….

“It’s beautiful up here, huh?” Jisung said.

Renjun looked over at him. He was still standing by the door, looking out at the city below.

“Yeah, it really is,” he said, “Kinda trips me out though, you know? Like, how is it that Gotham looks this different on a rooftop than it does on ground level?”

Jisung shot him a funny look. “It doesn’t look that different.”

“What?”

“It’s the same buildings. One of Gotham’s strengths has always been the architecture.”

“Well, yeah,” Renjun said, “But also you can’t see all the bad stuff from up here.”

“I’m _pretty_ sure that has more to do with the fact we’re in Midtown.”

“You think?”

“Yeah. Try doing the same thing from a building in the Narrows. You’ll see a lot more stuff in disarray.”

“Well, yeah, but-”

Jisung cut him off. “It’s not the people. The buildings are grungier because no one can afford to do upkeep. Some places are straight up falling apart. Not to mention, that side of the river, you can kinda see the old amusement park on the horizon. It’s creepy.”

“I guess…”

“If I’m being honest, though, I kind of love it,” Jisung continued with a soft smile.

“You what?”

“The city, not the decay,” Jisung clarified. He pushed himself away from the door and toward the roof’s edge, looking out over the city. “I think people put a bit too much stock in aesthetics when they’re judging a place. They definitely do when they’re talking about Gotham.”

“Well, yeah, I mean, with the sheer number of crazy people-”

“See?” Jisung cut him off again. “That’s what I’m talking about. Everyone thinks about the supervillains. And if they don’t, they think about Batman, this shadowy figure who keeps the villains in check. But that’s not really Gotham. Most of the people here… we’re just people. People who are doing their best with what they have and who don’t make enough waves to end up on the news. Just like everywhere else.”

“But-”

“You’ve lived here for, what, three years? How many supervillains have you run into in that time?”

Renjun thought about it. He really did. “Before last month? I don’t think I ever saw any except on the news.”

“Exactly. I grew up in an orphanage in the Bowery, and in that time, I was involved in seven villain attacks. And I know that seems like a big number, but that’s less than one a year as a convenient target in the part of town where most of the bad guys actually live. Gotham isn’t a hell-hole. It’s a city. It has good and bad parts, just like everywhere else.”

Renjun wanted to object, but thinking about it, he didn’t have a good argument. Gotham had more than its fair share of crazies, but it also had people like Jisung and Peter Jasons and the owner of the diner they’d gone to that morning. And it had people like Didi who, while she had probably been one of the crazies, was an amazing person who genuinely saw the good in everyone she met and lived her life to the fullest.

He stepped up next to Jisung and looked out at the city. It really was beautiful. And maybe, just maybe, it wasn’t quite as Godforsaken as he’d originally thought.


End file.
